


The Long and Winding Road

by RedfieldFamilyFan24



Series: The Adventures of Peter Parker [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Abuse, Avengers: Endgame compliant sort of, Child Abuse, Endgame fix it sort of, Gen, Happy is NOT the abusive boyfriend. I need this to be known, Iron Dad, May's Abusive Boyfriend Trope, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Mid-Credits Scene Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Spider-Man: Far From Home, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Happy, Spider-Man Far from home compliant sort of, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-07-26 03:54:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 55,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20037496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedfieldFamilyFan24/pseuds/RedfieldFamilyFan24
Summary: After surviving his trip to Europe, Peter is expecting things will settle down and he can be happy dating MJ, hanging out with Ned, doing normal school things, and being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. However, all that changes one day. Not only does he meet his aunt's strange new boyfriend, Eddie, who instantly sets off his spidey senses, but he also gets a call from Happy. A call saying that he has to go to Wakanda as soon as possible. That it concerns Tony Stark. Tony Stark who died months ago.ADDED IT TO A SERIES OF MINE BUT IT STANDS ALONE.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So one thing I need to explain is this is going to be post Spider-Man Far From Home, but I'm going to pretend that Peter's identity as Spider-Man hasn't been revealed yet. It might happened later in this. Also I think I'll say Cap didn't go back in time, but he did pass the shield to Sam. I love reading the May's abusive boyfriend trope so here this is. Happy is NOT the abusive boyfriend. I want this to be clear because I ship May and Happy. Anyway, the story isn't only going to be the abusive boyfriend plot since there is a lot I want to do. Also Eddie is NOT Venom. I was stupid and used the same name. That was a mistake. 
> 
> Also I'm not sure about this title, but I've been listening to a lot of Beatles recently so here it is.

It all started when Happy and May broke up, even though Peter didn’t realize it at the time. It had been a month and a half since the whole incident in Europe with Beck. Peter’s seventeenth birthday had come and gone and the summer was coming to an end.

It had been awhile since Peter had visited Tony’s grave. He used to go often but it was hard to get there without a car and then the whole incident in Europe happened. 

He’d never forget Tony’s grave in that illusion Beck had created. Maybe Tony would be alive if you were better. 

That still haunted Peter’s dreams at times even though things were… pretty good. At least better than they had been. Dating MJ had been amazing and finally, at least for now, Peter didn’t constantly feel like he had to be the next Iron Man. 

It was.. much better. 

But then that late summer day Happy took Peter to Tony’s grave. 

It was actually peaceful. Not like the grave had been in the illusion. Peter had brought flowers even though it seemed stupid in a way. Tony hadn’t cared about that. 

But it wasn’t like he could have brought cheeseburgers and AC/DC CDs. 

Happy put his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “You know Tony would have been proud of you?” 

Peter just shrugged. 

Even now that Tony had been gone almost a year, it didn’t seem real. Sometimes he half expected to get a call from him saying that he had some new upgrades planned for Peter’s suit. 

Of course, that never happened.

“He was proud of you,” Happy said. 

Peter hoped so. He had always wanted that and even now he still did. Tony had helped him a bunch. He didn’t know where he would be now if not for him. When Tony had found him, he had still be wearing his first suit that he had made himself. He didn’t know that much about the superhero world and was new to having his powers.

Even though he could be Spider-Man without the suit, even he had to admit now he was better off with it. It made May less worried about him and he could do more. Save more people. Now he wasn’t the naïve kid anymore either. He knew what was really out there. 

“I wish that he could still be here,” Peter said, but he knew that he was going to always wish that. He still wished that for Ben, even though it had been even longer since he had passed away. 

“I do too,” Happy said, moving his hand away from Peter’s shoulder and then taking the flowers from him and putting them by the grave. 

“And I wish there was more that we can do now,” Peter said, but what he really wished was there could be more that he had done that day months ago. That day when Tony had saved the world. 

And died in the process. 

“Yeah, Tony wasn’t much of a flower person,” Happy said.

They didn’t stay there much longer, but still Peter was glad that he went. Maybe Mr. Stark wasn’t really here since he hadn’t been buried. He had donated his body or something but still it gave him… peace was too strong of a word. Still it helped him a bit. 

After Peter and Happy went to get cheeseburgers. They normally would go see Pepper and Morgan after visiting the grave, but apparently they had gone out of country for something which Happy even claimed to not know about. 

It was fine, even though Peter liked being around them. It had been hard at first, but now he loved Morgan. She was like the little sister he never had, but had always wanted. 

“I need to talk to you about something,” Happy said.

Peter frowned and ate one of his fries. It was perfectly greasy and delicious. “What’s wrong?” He could tell something was wrong just by how Happy said it. 

“Your aunt and I are just going to be friends.”

Somehow Peter’s frown deepened. Maybe he shouldn’t care after all he knew that the two of them might not work out. However, May had been a lot happier and it had been… okay, it had been weird having Happy around more, but it hadn’t been bad. Just different.

And it had been nice having someone who understood Peter’s world. Someone who he didn’t have to lie to about Spider-Man. Yes, MJ and Ned knew about it, but they didn’t really understand what it was. Happy couldn’t either, but he had been around Mr. Stark for so long that he got it more. 

And Peter… well it was probably stupid and childish, but things had been good with Happy since he and May had been dating and he didn’t want him to decide now that being around Peter was too awkward. It was nice having another father like figure. 

He had already lost three. 

“You’re thinking weird things, aren’t you, Peter?” Happy asked, frowning at him. 

“No way,” Peter said. “Just…. Thinking about Star Wars theories.” Yes, that was lame and there was no way that he was going to buy that even from him.

“I’ll still be seeing you just as often. Well maybe not as often since I won’t be at your house as much. That was—”

“That was awkward anyway,” Peter said, even though really it hadn’t been that bad. 

“I’ll still be working with you,” Happy said. 

Peter nodded and took a bite of his burger. It was tempting to ask him why he and May had broke up, but he would ask her that later. He had noticed that she was acting different the last few days, but every time he had tried to get her to say anything, she had told him it was nothing and then would ask him about his patrols and just how he was doing.

He should have talked to her more. 

“Everything will be the same. May and I are even going to stay friends,” Happy said again.

And at first he even seemed to be right. Nothing really changed that much. He still went on patrols and would call Happy to tell what happened. Once a week, they would meet up as well and talk more about Spider-Man related things like about potential upgrades to his suit and what not. He didn’t avoid his calls like he had right before the Homecoming incident and he responded to his texts fast. 

But Happy just disappeared. At first, he had gone back to not responding to the messages and then finally after what felt like days he sent one with just this. “Something big is happening, kid. Will contact you as soon as I can.” 

And that was it. Peter had tried over and over again to call him, but it went straight to voice mail without a single ring. Gone… He had just disappeared. Not even telling him what the big thing was that was happening. 

Peter knew that he shouldn’t let it bother him. He had so much going on with his last year of high school starting and his relationship with MJ getting better and better all the time. Not to mention his Spider-Man patrols. Really it was almost a compliment since now everyone trusted him not to do something that got himself killed. He knew his limit.

Still it was annoying to be cut off again even if he did his best to hide it and stopped texting Happy. He would message him again when he was ready and Peter wasn’t going to text him again and again like he had before. He was older now. 

But it wasn’t easy. Every time he pulled up his phone, he thought about sending one. But he stopped himself. 

At least he could keep busy. 

Patrolling was one thing that helped with that. And today was crazy. There had been a couple of people trying to rob a store not far from Peter’s. It had been wilder than usual since there were so many of them, but not something he couldn’t handle. Still he breathed a sigh of relief when it was done and no one got injured. 

When he got back to the apartment, May hurried over and hugged him. “How was your patrol today?” 

He always downplayed it to her. He didn’t want her to worry any more than she already did. 

“It was fine. Just normal stuff,” Peter said. “Nothing that I couldn’t handle.” Handling the neighborhood issues was a lot easier than Beck and Thanos. Obviously… 

He still had nightmares when it came to both Beck and Thanos and he didn’t know which was worse. Would he always have them or would they eventually fade away? 

“That’s good,” May said as she released him from their hug. He half expected for her to ask more questions because she normally did but instead she smiled. “I have something I need to talk to you about.” 

Peter frowned. He just didn’t like how she said that. “What?” 

“It’s nothing bad. It’s actually really good,” May said as the two of them went over to the couch. 

That actually didn’t make him feel any better and if anything it made his spidey sense (not Peter Tingle) go off. Something was up. 

“What’s going on?” Peter asked. Maybe she had heard something from Happy. Somehow the two of them had remained friends, even though they had broken up. 

Peter hoped if he and MJ ever broke up they would find a way to remain friends too. It would be bad enough not being with her, but losing one of his best friends would make it a lot worse. 

But since they were friends then it was possible that she could have heard something before him. Maybe something had happened to Happy. Peter was cursed. It was his Parker luck. So many people who he loved died. 

He didn’t want Happy to join the others. 

“Is… Happy and everyone are okay, right?” Maybe Happy wasn’t a superhero, but he still did get involved in dangerous things. That was probably what happened when you had been around Mr. Stark too long. 

“Happy?” May frowned. “I’m sure he’s okay. I haven’t heard from him recently.” 

“Oh… Okay…” Good. At least he was okay. He couldn’t help but breathe sigh of relief. He wasn’t going to be losing yet another father figure. “Then what’s going on?”

His spidey sense was still going off but it was mild. Probably just nerves. 

“I’ve been seeing someone new,” May said, finally spitting it out. 

Oh… “But you and Happy just broke up.” He hadn’t meant to say that, but it somehow just came out. Stupid Peter. May deserved to be happy and if she wanted to find someone else to date than that was good for her. 

“It’s been a couple months now, Peter,” May said with a sigh. “And it’s not like I planned it. It just happened.” 

“Oh…” Peter said since he had no idea what to say about this, but May kept looking at him. She expected for him to say more. “That’s… If you’re happy than that’s good.” 

And it was. His spidey sense had been a lot more consistent since Europe but it still had its moments. 

“And I want to meet him,” Peter said since he knew that it was the right thing to say. He even forced himself to smile. 

May smiled back and hugged him and it made it all worse it, even if his spidey senses weren’t happy about this. 

He thought that it would take awhile to actually get to meet May’s new boyfriend, but just a couple hours later she said that he would be able to come tomorrow. Peter forced himself to smile and nod, even though if anything that made his anxiety worse. Why was that and his spidey sense so crazy right now? 

The next day he did his best to forget about it and it wasn’t hard. School went pretty good. He was in multiple classes with MJ and Ned and got to sit by them in all of them. He had gotten really lucky and only had one class with Flash. 

Patrol was pretty uneventful too. He stopped someone from breaking into a car and gave a few people directions. Yes some people asked him if he was going to be the next Iron Man, but that question didn’t freak him out as much as before. Even though he wasn’t going to be the next Iron Man. There could only be one.

When he got back home, May hurried over to him and hugged him. “Peter, did you forget?” 

He froze and then he remembered. Her new boyfriend was supposed to be coming. 

“Sorry. I can get ready,” Peter said and he did still have time. He was just glad that he wasn’t here yet. He didn’t want too many people to know about him being Spider-Man. It was okay that MJ, Ned, May, Pepper, Happy, and lots of other superheroes such as Doctor Strange knew it as well as Nick Fury, even if he was a jerk, but he didn’t want too many more people to know. 

Especially someone he hadn’t even met yet. 

And he especially wasn’t going to meet her boyfriend in his Iron Spider suit. That would be… that would be something. Luckily, he did have time to get ready and to hide the Iron Spider suit, not that he thought her boyfriend would come in his room. 

When he came out her new boyfriend wasn’t even here yet, but just a couple minutes later there was a knock on the door. Once again his spidey senses went off, way worse than they had when he was even on patrol today. 

May stood up but then looked at him and frowned. “You okay, baby?” 

“I’m…” For a moment, he considered telling her, but it was probably nothing and he didn’t want to worry her. “I’m fine. Just nervous.” And maybe it was just nerves. 

“Don’t be nervous. Eddie is great. You’ll love him.” 

Peter forced himself to nod and even smile, even though his stomach was twisting and he felt like he was about to jump out of his skin. Hopefully it really was nothing. Hopefully May was right and he would love her boyfriend.

May went to answer the door and Peter just stood there waiting, trying to look normal. His phone vibrated in his pocket but he ignored it. Hopefully it wasn’t MJ. He hated to ignore her texts. 

He almost pulled it out to look at it, but then May came in with a tall man with sandy blond hair and cold grey eyes. However, when he saw Peter he smiled. That should have made Peter feel better, but if anything it made his stomach twist more. 

Still he forced himself to smile too, hoping that he didn’t look as anxious as he felt. But he had never been good at that. 

“Peter, this is Eddie,” May said, putting her hand on his shoulder. 

Eddie extended his hand for Peter to shake and he did just that. 

“Peter, I’ve been wanting to meet you for awhile,” Eddie said, smiling at him as Peter pulled his hand away. He had a firm handshake. Almost too firm. 

“Yeah, same here,” Peter said, but it was a lie since he hadn’t known about him for awhile. But he had seen that May was happier. Like she had been when she was dating Happy. 

And he wanted that for May. She deserved happiness more than anyone. 

“May has told me so much about you,” Eddie said. 

Peter’s phone was going crazy. He tried to pull it out but Eddie gave him a look as if he had done something horrible so he put it back. 

Even though he wanted to know why it kept vibrating. No one ever texted him this month. Well that wasn’t true. Ned could get a bit crazy when he got excited about something such as a new Star Wars trailer, but none of those were coming out today. 

“I… she told me a lot about you too.” Total lie. May hadn’t told Peter anything about Eddie, probably because Peter was obviously still friends with Happy since they worked together. 

“Peter’s so smart, Eddie,” May said beaming. 

“Really? He looking into college?”

“Yeah, I’m applying and researching them. Might go to MIT” Peter said. Tony had wanted him to go there too. He used to tell Peter so many stories about MIT and thought that it would be good for Peter.

Peter still thought that and had loved the stories. 

“MIT? That’s expensive,” Eddie said. 

Peter froze. It wasn’t like he hadn’t thought about that. But he thought he could figure it out. He wondered if he could have EDITH almost pay for it but that didn’t seem right. Having Stark industries pay for his college even if he hoped to work for them one day. 

“Peter’s so smart. He’ll be able to get a scholarship.” 

“Yeah, maybe,” Peter said not liking how Eddie was looking at him. 

“Oh, you will,” May said, beaming at him. “Peter interns at Stark Industries.” 

Peter paused but nodded.

The next hour was awkward. They all sat in the living room together, staring at each other awkwardly. Eddie made small talk but didn’t seem super happy about any of Peter’s responses especially when May wasn’t paying attention. Still, he wasn’t out right rude.  
Peter knew he couldn’t ignore it anymore. He shouldn’t have to begin with. What if something was wrong? 

He looked at it and his blood ran cold. It was Happy, not Ned. Happy. Peter was so stupid not to look at it. He had been trying to be polite, but he was an idiot. 

“Why are you looking at your phone?” Eddie said narrowing his eyes even though it wasn’t his business what Peter did. 

“Peter is really busy with the Stark Industries internship.”

If anything that just made Eddie glare at him even more. Peter tried to ignore it. Maybe he was just awkward or had like resting bitch face. 

“Someone’s been trying to reach me for awhile,” Peter said. “I shouldn’t have even ignored it.” 

He was horrible for ignoring it. Who knows what could have happened? It would be Peter’s fault if someone got hurt. He would never forgive himself if something like that happened. This wasn’t the same as ignoring Nick Fury’s calls. 

“I have to call someone,” Peter said and he didn’t even wait for May or Eddie to say anything and walked to his bedroom. He could feel Eddie’s eyes glaring at him but he didn’t care. 

He just had to find out what was going on. 

Peter was about to call him but then the phone vibrated. Happy. It was Happy. 

Peter answered it right away. “What’s going on? Is anyone getting attacked? Do you need me to—“

“Why didn’t you answer your phone?” Happy asked, luckily, he sounded more annoyed than panicked despite all the missed calls. “Geez, kid, you used to call me too much and now you don’t answer.”

“I’m sorry. Is everything okay?” 

“It’s… a lot is going on,” Happy said. 

Peter frowned. “What do you mean?” 

“You need to come here.”

“I… okay. Are you at the Tower?” After the Compound had gotten destroyed, Stark Industries had bought the Tower back while the Compound was getting rebuilt. 

“No.”

“Then where are you?” Peter asked. He could borrow May’s car even though he hated driving outside of the city. Usually Happy drove him places but he couldn’t now. 

“Wakanda.” 

“What?” How was that even possible? 

“Yeah, we’re going to have you come out here on a private jet. ASAP.”

At first all Peter could do was stare ahead. This was really the last thing he expected. 

“You still here? Hello?” Happy said.

“Yeah, and yeah that’s fine.” He’d go to Wakanda. It had to be important if Happy wanted him to go. 

“Good I’ll have a driver pick you up in thirty.”

“Happy, what’s going on? Why do I have to go to Wakanda?” 

There was a long pause. “It has to do with Tony.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. I apologize if there are any typos in this. I edited and posted it while at work today. I guess I’m a bad employee. I was just really excited to share this with you all.

Even though Peter tried to get Happy to tell exactly what was going on, he wouldn’t say a single thing. He kept saying that he would have to come to Wakanda and then he would be told everything. This made Peter’s stomach twist. 

Something horrible could have happened. Yeah, this didn’t seem like the way Happy would break the news, but then again he did want to do it in person.

So maybe something was wrong. 

But he didn’t know how that would have to do with Tony. Still he had a bad feeling, even if it wasn’t his spidey sense that was triggered.

Less than fifteen minutes after hanging up with Happy, a car came to pick Peter up. He barely had time to pack and to call May and tell her that he would be gone for awhile. She didn’t answer so all he could do was leave a message. Hopefully she would get it soon and not worry. 

He also sent a text to Ned and MJ. Ned’s popped up first. 

“Dude that is so cool!!!!” Ned said in his text. 

For a moment, Peter couldn’t help but smile. Going to Wakanda was cool and was something he had wanted to do for years now. It just seemed… this wasn’t why he wanted to go. And it wasn’t how. He always thought eventually he would go with Mr. Stark who could introduce him to King T’challa and his cool sister Shuri who also liked science. 

But that couldn’t happen now. 

When he got on the plane, he got a quick text from MJ. 

“That’s cool, but sucks we won’t be able to hang out.” 

Peter nodded, but then realized he actually had to text her back. “I no but I’ll be back soon.” 

And he would. He doubted that this would be a long trip. 

“It’s OK! Looking forward to seeing you again, loser.” 

Peter laughed. Even though normally if someone called him a loser, he wouldn’t like it, it was different with MJ. 

“I’ll miss u 2.” Peter replied. 

The plane took off just as the text went through. He wasn’t looking forward to this plane ride. The whole time he was going to be stuck wondering what Happy had to tell him about Tony that was so important. It had to be really significant if he would make him fly to Wakanda. 

He didn’t have anyone else here to distract him either since it was a self driving private plane. He was all alone. In a way that was a good thing since he didn’t have his teacher falling asleep on his shoulder like when he had gone to Europe. Still, he would have liked to have someone to talk to.

Someone to distract him.

Maybe if he was normal he could have taken some sleeping medicine and just slept through the flight, but his metabolism was too fast and the medicine wouldn’t work. Nope, the only way he was going to go to sleep was if he did it the natural way, and he doubted sleep would come to him. 

Yet somehow it did. 

He woke up just as the plane was approaching Wakanda. Wakanda was beautiful. It had a lot of green, even though it looked as technologically advanced that it was. It was crazy to think the whole world hadn’t known how good its technology was until recently, and instead had believed it to be a third world country. 

The plane landed not long later and Happy greeted him as soon as he got out of the plane. Peter hurried over and hugged him, even though he wasn’t sure how Happy would react to that. Happy hesitated but hugged him back. 

“I’m glad you came here,” Happy said, letting go of Peter before Peter wanted him to. 

Peter hadn’t had much choice really. When he had mentioned Tony, it wasn’t like he could say no. Not after all that Mr. Stark had done for him. 

He still missed and thought about him all the time too. Little things would remind him of Mr. Stark. Like when he passed the pizza place they used to go to. Or when Ned talked about the Star Wars movie that Mr. Stark and Peter had watched a million times together. Or basically anything to do with Spider-Man.

But each day got less painful and easier to manage. Thinking about Mr. Stark didn’t hurt as much. It had been similar when Ben had passed away. 

Not when his parents had. Peter had been so young then and had mostly just been confused as to why his mom and dad weren’t coming back. That if anything had been even worse. 

“And don’t worry, I talked to your aunt,” Happy said as the two of them walked toward a car that was parked in the distance. It almost looked like the car that he usually drove him around in, even though it couldn’t be since they were in Africa. 

“What?” Peter asked. “But I called her.” 

Happy shrugged. “She didn’t get the message, but don’t worry I explained everything and she’s fine with you being here.” 

“She wasn’t… she wasn’t worried, right?” Peter should have tried to call her again, but he had kept thinking about how Happy said this had to do with Tony, and he had been worried about what he was going to say.

“She understands. Everything is fine, kid.” 

Peter paused, but then he nodded. Still he didn’t like the thought of his aunt not knowing where he had gone. She had been cool about him being Spider-Man, but he knew that she was still worried that something horrible might happen to him. 

Horrible things had happened to him before, not that he talked about those much, especially with her. She would worry about him and he didn’t want her to. She deserved to be happy. 

“Thanks,” Peter said, forcing himself to smile at Happy. 

“No problem.” The two of them got in the car, escaping the hot air. Even the inside of the car looked very similar to the one that he usually picked him up in. There were only subtle differences. 

Peter looked at Happy. “So…”

“So what?” 

“What do you have to tell me about Tony?” There was a lump in Peter’s throat, but he did his best to ignore it. Maybe he was going to be told something good. It was just he was worried because Mr. Stark had a lot of enemies. 

That was why the whole Mysterio thing had happened, not that it was Mr. Stark’s fault. Mysterio had been… crazy and manipulative and cruel. Whenever Peter thought about how he had given him EDITH, he cringed and hated himself. How could he be so stupid? 

“I…” He sighed and shook his head. 

“It’s bad?” Peter asked. “Does it have to do with one of his enemies or--”  


“Nope, nothing like that, kid. Don’t worry.” 

Peter couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. 

“You really thought it was something like that?” Happy asked. 

“Sorry, kid. I didn’t know that you would get so freaked out. It’s nothing bad. It’s just… It’s just going to be a lot for you to take.” 

“What does that mean?” Peter asked. He had gone from feeling better to be worried again. 

“It’s hard for me to say without telling you what it is.” Happy rolled his eyes. “I wish I could just tell you what’s going on, but Fury is wanting you to sign something before you find out.” 

Peter cringed when Fury was mentioned. He didn’t like Fury. He had been a jerk to him when he had been Europe and had basically forced him to help when he hadn’t been sure that he wanted to. And then when it hadn’t gone as smoothly as Fury had wanted, he had gotten angry with him. 

“Don’t worry, he’s not going to be there,” Happy said, somehow knowing what he was thinking. “He was an asshole. Actually he’s always an asshole, but he was worse to you. You don’t have to put up with him anytime soon. I let him know that we’d contact him instead of the other way around next time.” 

“Really?” Peter asked. Even now hearing something like that was so strange. He had tried so hard to get Happy and Mr. Stark to pay attention to him before the Homecoming incident. Back then he would have thought that he wanted to meet Fury. 

But everything had changed since then. 

“Yeah.” 

“Thank you, Happy,” Peter muttered as he looked at his hands. “I mean it’s better this way.” 

“Much, much better and you’re welcome.” 

Happy turned on AC/DC after that and the two of them didn’t say much else to each other. Peter stared out the window and tried his best to look at everything they passed. 

“Happy?” Peter asked, finally ending his silence. He didn’t look at him and kept staring out the window. “You really can’t tell me what you need to tell me about Mr. Stark?” 

“Nope,” Happy said. “Wish I could, kid, but I can’t. I just found out the other day myself. You’re going to know soon enough what is going on.” 

Peter looked back at him and saw that Happy was actually smiling. It only lasted for a second before it vanished.

“It’s good, kid,” Happy said. “Really good.” 

Peter nodded, but he was relieved. He didn’t know if he could handle anymore bad news right now. It hadn’t been that long since his fight with Mysterio. Sometimes, he had nightmares when he found out that everything after leaving Europe had been an illusion. 

Sometimes when he was awake he worried about this. Only for a few seconds before he told himself that it was silly and Beck was dead but still. 

Peter and Happy didn’t say much else to each other. Peter just tried to keep himself occupied by looking out the window at everything. There was so much to see, but it was hard to focus on anything when he didn’t know why he had been brought here. 

Luckily—or maybe unluckily—they eventually reached a large house that was outside of the main part of the city. The house was beautiful and looked really domestic with a white picket fence and everything. 

“They’re renting it for a short time,” Happy said as he and Peter got out of the car.

Peter was about to ask who they are but he didn’t get a chance. Morgan ran out of the house and pretty much attacked him with a hug. 

“Petey! Petey!” Morgan pretty much yelled with joy as she hugged him tightly. 

Even now Peter couldn’t help but grin. Morgan was the best little kid. Whenever he visited her and Pepper, he would draw pictures with Morgan and read her any book that she wanted. She would also try to chase him with water guns and water balloons. He could have easily avoided her attacks, but he always let her spray him and hit him with the balloons. 

It was fun, except the one time she had frozen a couple of the water balloons and hit him in the face with one that had been in the freezer. That had hurt, but he recovered fast and Morgan had seemed to feel bad.

“So glad you’re here,” Morgan said, still not letting go of him. 

“I’m glad I’m here too,” Peter said, and now part of him was, even though he was still terrified what the news could be. 

“We should play water balloons later,” Morgan said, her eyes lighting up. She finally let go of him.

“Okay,” Peter said right away. “But you can’t put any of them in the freezer.” 

“I won’t, Petey,” Morgan said, her eyes wide. Her eyes were so much like her dad’s. She looked so much like Mr. Stark overall. And really she acted kind of like him too. “I’ll be nice.” 

Peter just smiled at her. 

“Peter can’t play just yet. He has--” Happy tried to say, but Morgan didn’t let him finish. 

“Daddy can play with us too, Petey!” Morgan said, grinning just as widely as before. “We can throw frozen balloons at him instead of you.”

All Peter could do was stare at her when she said that. He didn’t understand. Morgan knew that her dad was dead. She knew it. He had talked to her about it. He would tell her stories about all the amazing things that he had done. 

Happy cringed. 

“Morgan, your dad isn’t--” Peter tried to say.

“I’ll make him play with us,” Morgan said, taking Peter’s hand. 

Peter looked at Happy, hoping that he would say something. He didn’t want to be the one to remind Morgan that her dad was dead. 

“Daddy and I played Pretty Pretty Princess all day yesterday, but I want to play water balloon fight now.” 

Yesterday? Peter froze. There was just. There was no way.

But then Peter heard his voice. 

“Peter, Underoos, hey,” Mr. Stark said. He was standing there. Just standing there. Peter had no idea how long he had been there. 

Morgan grinned and reached over and ran to her father, hugging him.  
All Peter could do was stare.

There was no way this could be possible. 

Peter couldn’t stop staring at first. This was impossible. Mr. Stark was dead. This had to be some kind of dream.

No, it wasn’t a dream. It was an illusion. 

“Peter, I know that this is surprising but—“ the fake Mr. Stark tried to say, but Peter wasn’t about to let this continue. 

“No! Stop!” Peter cried out as Morgan let go of her fake dad. 

Beck was twisted. Wasn’t it bad enough what he had already done? Did he have to actually have Mr. Stark show up in his illusions?

But it wasn’t worse than the tombstone and Beck saying it was his fault that Mr. Stark was dead. 

Just the thought of it made him shudder and his stomach twist. He was going to be sick. He was honestly going to be sick. 

“No! I’m stupid. I’m not going to let you trick me again! I’m not… I know this isn’t real!” Why hadn’t his spidey senses warned him? He thought they were working again. 

Fake Mr. Stark took a step back as if he had wounded him. Even Morgan looked hurt but she probably wasn’t real either. 

All fake.

“I’m not trying to trick you,” Mr. Stark said. “I promise. What happened, kiddo?” 

“You know what happened, Beck,” Peter spat out. 

“I don’t… I’m not Beck.” Tony said, putting his hands in front of himself. “Who are you talking about?” 

Peter took a step away. He wasn’t going to let them trick him. He couldn’t go through something like this again. What made it worse was they had taken him out of the country. Far from home. If the plane ride hadn’t been an illusion. 

“Peter, this isn’t an illusion from that asshole Beck,” Happy said. “This is real. We can explain.” 

He stood there. Stunned. He wished that he could believe it. He really did. It would be amazing to have Mr. Stark back, but he was dead. 

The dead stayed dead. 

“Yeah, I can explain, Underoos,” Fake Mr. Stark said. “I promise, kiddo.”

It was weird that fake Mr. Stark would call him Underoos but it wasn’t that big of a secret. Not really. 

Fake Mr. Stark reached out and tried to grab Peter’s arm. No! Peter wasn’t allowing that. He knew this was fake. 

He tried again to grab him and this time he succeeded at it. For a moment, Peter could only stare at him. His hand was warm and it didn’t feel fake. 

But it was. He wouldn’t be tricked. 

He shoved fake Mr. Stark away and ran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed it. Please comment.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG you all are so amazing. I loved all the love I got. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter.
> 
> I want to dedicate this chapter to my friend Nicole who is my beta. Happy birthday, Nicole!!

Peter didn’t know where he planned to go. He just had to get far away. He couldn’t believe this was happening. Beck was supposed to be dead and how dare he make it look like Tony was alive. Make it look like Morgan and everyone was here. 

Peter ran for a long time but eventually he stopped and just walked. Apparently, he really was in Wakanda since it didn’t vanish. It was insanely hot too since it was still technically summer. 

But he didn’t care. He didn’t care how hot it was. He just had to go… somewhere. Back to Queens. Though he wasn’t sure how he would do that. 

Wait! Yes, he did. He had EDITH. He could get it to buy him tickets back home. His passport was in his suitcase back at the place fake Tony Stark was staying, but he’d figure it out. 

He put the sunglasses on and was about to ask about the tickets when he was stopped. 

There was a snapping sound behind him like a branch breaking. Peter spun around. It was fake Tony. Why wouldn’t this nightmare end?

Fake Tony put his hands in front of him as if Peter was some kind of wild animal. “Listen, I know what you’re thinking, kiddo. That this is something to do with that asshole Quentin Beck.” Apparently fake Happy had given fake Tony some information. “But I swear I’m real and I can explain everything.” 

“I… no you can’t,” Peter said. His voice broke. “I saw you die.”

Just saying that made him feel the same way he had during that battle. Hopeless. He had wanted to do something to help Mr. Stark but there was nothing he could do. He had died just like Peter’s parents and Uncle Ben. Gone forever. 

Like almost everyone Peter loved. 

“And I can explain that, kiddo. I can explain everything.” 

“I… tell me something that only the two of us would know.”

Fake Mr. Stark stared at him. “Really, kid?” 

“So I know this isn’t one of Beck’s illusions.”

He thought he had beaten Beck. Why had he failed so badly? 

Mr. Stark paused but then sighed. “Remember when we were watching that mediocre movie “Solo?”

“It was good, not mediocre.” But it hadn’t been the best Star Wars movie. 

“Well apparently I was calling Han Solo “Hans Solo” for years and you thought that was funny and kept calling him Hans for the rest of the movie,” Mr. Stark said. At least this story wasn’t as embarrassing as Happy’s Germany one. “Is that good enough?”

“It’s—“ 

“I know another. Remember when we were watching some of your fights and then I accidentally pulled up the footage of you pretending to be Thor. That—“ 

Peter hurried over and hugged him. Soon Peter was sobbing but he didn’t care. He thought Mr. Stark was too even though if he asked he’d probably say something about how Stark men were made of iron and didn’t cry. It wasn’t even true since he was softer than he acted like.

It was okay. Everything was. Mr. Stark was somehow alive and that was all that mattered. 

———————

For awhile the two of them just talked outside even though it was sweltering hot. Mr. Stark explained what happened and how he had lived. It had to do with Wakanda’s technology, and apparently, he had been in a coma for many months. It had been a miracle. When Tony had been taken off the battlefield, everything had thought that he was dead. Even for the next few days they had. Then they had checked again and well… 

Still no one thought he would live.

But he had.

It really was just a miracle.

“I couldn’t even tell Pepper for weeks after I woke up,” Tony complained. He had lost his arm but they had made him a replacement here, kind of like Bucky’s. “And then they made me wait to tell anyone else too.”

Peter nodded. He was just glad that he was alive. 

“And no one would tell me anything that was going on.” He reached out and ruffled Peter’s hair. Before he would have pretended to be annoyed but now he didn’t. “That’s why I didn’t know about that asshole Beck and what he did. I’ll make sure we find his people and—“

“No, it’s… it’s all over now, Mr. Stark.”

“It’s better to be careful. At least when it comes to you,” Mr. Stark said standing up. Peter did as well. “And enough of that stupid Mr. Stark thing. It makes me feel old.”

Before he might have made a snarky comment, but this time he didn’t. 

“You can just call me “Tony” like I’ve told you to.” 

“Fine, Tony…” 

“Now that sounds much better,” Tony said, but it sounded weird to Peter. Still it was the least that he could do for Mr. Stark. After everything.

“It’s… okay.” He still half expected Tony to disappear. That this would be a dream and he would wake up in his twin bed at his and May’s apartment.

“We should go back to the car. You ran far away kid. You’re fast. I’m tired of being out in this hot weather. AC is a beautiful thing.”

Peter just nodded and followed Tony back to the car. An Audi just like the car he had back in New York. Tony blasted the AC as soon as they got in. 

“I don’t know how you could have stood being out in this weather so long,” Tony complained more. Was it really that bad?

“I just… wasn’t thinking about that.” He had been scared and freaked out. He couldn’t go through that with Beck again. 

He couldn’t have him keep messing with his mind.

“I’m sorry, Pete. This is my fault.” 

“Your fault?” Peter asked, not sure how he could even say something like that. 

“I… I remember Beck.” Tony sighed. “Maybe if I had realized how fucking insane he was then I could have done something when he worked for me so he wouldn’t put you through hell.”

“I’m… I’m fine…” Peter said. He doubted that Mr. Stark would be as eager to help him if he knew that he had given Beck EDITH for awhile. That Beck had tricked him. 

“You’re not fine. You thought this was all an illusion and you were afraid.”

“I wasn’t afraid,” Peter said.

Tony just looked at him. 

“I just… I didn’t want to go through that again,” Peter said. And he hadn’t wanted to get excited about Tony being alive just to get it torn away from him. 

“It’s okay and don’t worry you won’t have to go through that again. That’s why I’m going to make sure all Beck’s people are caught.”

“You shouldn’t do—“

“I’m not going to do it myself. I’m not allowed to do anything now. I swear I feel like I’m in jail sometimes.” 

“Don’t say that, Mr…” Tony gave him a look. “Don’t say that, Tony.” Peter corrected himself. It was going to take some time getting used to this. 

“Well, it’s going to be nice when I can head home. I feel fine. Pepper and my doctors should realize that,” Tony said. “It’ll be nice when I’m back near you, won’t it?” 

Peter tried to answer but a lump formed in his throat. He would never be able to express how nice it was. Tony being alive was more than he could have ever hoped for. Never would have imagined that he was alive.

“I can go to some of your decathlon competitions,” Tony said. 

Peter could only stare at him. “Really?” It was just hard to imagine Tony being there. He could only imagine what Flash would say. Tony already knew a lot about Flash and well… he didn’t like him. Peter doubted that had changed. 

“Yeah, obviously. I’m different now,” Tony said. He ruffled Peter’s hair, which caused Peter to give him a look, even though he really didn’t mind. “Maybe I can get a big sign with your name on it. Oh, and a shirt with your face.” 

“What?” Peter asked. 

“You’re like a son to me, Pete,” Tony said, looking at him and grinning. “And so it’s my job to embarrass you.” 

Before maybe the comment about it being his job to embarrass him would have annoyed Peter, but now he didn’t care. And hearing Tony say that he was like a son to him… he had wanted that for so long, but never thought Tony would feel that way about him. 

After all, he was a random orphan who happened to be bitten by a radioactive spider. 

Not to mention his Parker luck kept causing people he loved to die. Maybe he was cursed.

“Please don’t wear the shirts,” Peter said. 

“We have to.” 

“We?” Peter asked. 

“Yes, I’m going to make Pepper, Morgan, and probably your aunt do it too. Maybe I can convince the other Avengers to come and wear them too.” 

Peter gave him a look. 

“Sorry, kiddo. No way to stop it,” Tony said, grinning at him. “As soon as the doctors give me permission to go back to the states that’s going to happen. It’s only a matter of time. Soon they’ll admit I’m perfectly healthy.” 

Perfectly healthy. He did seem like he was doing pretty good, but he had been in a coma until recently. There was no way he could be entirely normal. 

And then something came to Peter. 

“Oh my god!” Peter said, horrified. 

“What?” Tony asked. 

“I… I shoved you. You’re healing and I shoved you.”

“Underoos, that’s not a big deal at all,” Tony said actually chuckling, but he was wrong. It was a big deal. The doctors obviously weren’t sure that he was completely healthy yet, and Peter had powers. “I’ve gone through worse than that.” 

“But I could have hurt you!” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “I’m seriously fine, Pete, and it was Happy and my fault that you freaked out. Well mostly Happy and the idiots who wouldn’t let him tell you why he was bringing you here. I didn’t know about the whole Beck thing.” 

“But I still--”

“I’m fine,” Tony said. “Seriously. I’m better than fine.” 

Peter nodded, but he wasn’t sure. He would never have been able to forgive himself if he had hurt Tony. Sure he was Iron Man, but right now he was recovering and he hadn’t been wearing his Iron Man suit. 

The drive didn’t take much longer. Only a few minutes. Still Peter was surprised that he had ran that far, but he had just been reacting. As soon as he stepped out of the car, Happy hurried over to him. 

“I’m so sorry, kid,” Happy said. “I should have known that you would think it wasn’t real. I feel like such an idiot.” 

“It’s okay, Happy,” Peter said. “I’m fine. I should have known that it was real.” 

Maybe he should have but what happened to Beck… It still affected him even now. He wished that it didn’t, but sometimes he couldn’t help about thinking of it. 

What Beck had said about it being his fault Tony was gone. 

Peter shuddered. 

“Kid’s going to be okay,” Tony said, putting his hand on his shoulder. “I’ll make sure of it.” 

“Yeah… Yeah, I’m going to be fine. It’s not your fault, Happy,” Peter said, shifting from one foot to another, but not moving enough that Tony had to move his hand. 

“Well, it’s not my fault,” Tony said, grinning at Peter as he moved his hand away. “But Happy should have told me what happened. Then I would have… handled it differently.” 

“I wasn’t supposed to,” Happy said, shrugging. “I’m glad the kid is okay.” 

Peter was about to say something else about how they didn’t need to worry about him, since after all he was Spider-Man, when Morgan came running out with a super soaker water gun. Pepper followed behind her. 

“Morgan, I’m sorry that--” Peter tried to say. 

“’S okay, Petey,” Morgan said. Her eyes were lit up with determination. “Mommy said a bad person hurt you.” 

“Morgan…” Pepper said. “Peter is fine now.” Pepper even gave Peter a small smile, but then she looked back at her daughter. “He’s okay.” 

“Yeah, I’m better than okay,” Peter said and it was true. Tony was okay now. Everything was going good. Beck was dead and wouldn’t bother him again. 

“You will be because I’ll protect you, Petey!” Morgan said. “No one hurts Petey! If they hurt you, Petey then I’ll—” 

Tony laughed and then went over and tried to hug Morgan, but she sprayed him with the water gun. “Mongoose!” 

“I gotta protect Petey.” 

If anything this made Tony laugh harder. Peter thought it was sweet, but really he was the one who should protect Morgan and not the other way around. She was like the little sister that he had always wanted, but never got. 

“And if I can’t protect Petey, then I’ll get Nebula to help me.” 

Tony looked… well, horrified… when she said that. Pepper had the same look in her eyes. 

“We don’t need to get Nebula involved, Morgan,” Pepper said with a small laugh, but her eyes were huge. 

“Yeah, Mongoose can handle it herself, and if not then I can,” Tony said. 

“You all know I can take care of myself, right?” Peter said, rolling his eyes, but he didn’t mind that they were acting this way. It was sort of nice. “I’m almost an adult.” 

Tony shuddered. “You being an adult is a scary thought.” 

“We should all--” Pepper tried to say.

“Have a water balloon war!” Morgan suggested, grinning. All thoughts of murdering the bad man who hurt Peter seemed to have left her head, for now at least. “Petey and I can be on a team.” 

Peter was glad he would be on Morgan’s team. She was brutal when it came to water balloon fights. 

“But I’m your dad,” Tony said. “Don’t you want to be on my team?” 

“No! Want Petey!” Morgan spat out. 

Peter grinned and laughed, which caused Tony to glare at him, but only for a moment. If anything that made Peter laugh harder. 

“Right now, we should have lunch,” Pepper said. “But maybe after you can do something like that.” 

Morgan sighed but nodded. “I want cheeseburgers.” And before anyone could tell her if they would have cheeseburgers or something else, she took off sprinting toward the house. 

Pepper and Happy went after her. Peter was about to go too, but then Tony put his hand on his shoulder again. 

“Underoos, I… I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when this whole Beck thing went down,” Tony said with a sigh as he moved his hand. “It’s fucked up. I should have done something when that asshole worked for me.” 

“It’s not your fault,” Peter said. Obviously, Tony didn’t know that he had given Beck EDITH. What would he say when he found out? How much had Happy and Pepper even told Tony? It couldn’t be much since he seemed to have only found out when Peter had ran off. “I… I messed up anyway.” 

Maybe he would have told him right there what he would have done if Tony had asked. 

“No, that asshole was twisted, and I doubt you messed up. He was just… God, I hate that man,” Tony said, glaring into the distance. “I wish had been awake then and had known what he was doing because then…” 

“I handled it. It’s over now,” Peter said, shifting his weight from one foot to another one. Talking about this wasn’t easy. It probably never would be.

Even talking about what happened with the Vulture wasn’t easy. He barely ever had to talk about that. May used to try to, but she seemed to have given up. She sometimes asked about what happened in Europe too, and he hoped that she would stop soon. 

“Okay, but you know if you ever need to talk about what happened, you can with me,” Tony said. 

At first, Peter could only stare at him. 

“I’m serious,” Tony said. “I know what it’s like to go through things like that. You should talk to someone if you need to.” 

“I’m fine,” Peter said shortly. “Really, I am.”

“Okay, but if you need to later.” 

Peter gave him a look.

“Hey, I know what you’re thinking, but I really have been trying to be different than my old man,” Tony said, shrugging. “And I want to be there for you.” 

“Thanks, Tony, but I’m okay,” Peter said. 

Still, it was nice in a way that Tony wanted to be there for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment. It makes me so happy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for any typos. Typos fill me with shame.

Morgan got what she wanted, which seemed to be often the case. Peter had tried to convince her to change the teams, but she had refused. 

“I love you, 2000, Petey,” Morgan said, smiling sweetly at Peter, but there was some mischief in her eyes as well. 

“That’s not as high as 3000 so you should want to be on my team,” Tony had said.

“Want Petey,” Morgan said, clutching to Peter’s leg. “He’s the best.” 

Nothing anyone could say would change her mind. Pepper tried to convince Tony and Morgan that he probably shouldn’t do this and he should rest, but then he had gotten determined to do the water balloon war too.

“The last thing I need to do is rest,” Tony had said. “I feel fine. Better than fine.” 

“Daddy is good,” Morgan said. “He wants to play water balloons.” 

Pepper sighed but nodded. “Just for awhile.” 

Tony opened his mouth to say something, but Morgan didn’t wait. She picked up a water gun and sprayed Tony. 

“Morgan H. Stark!” Pepper said, but she didn’t get the chance to say much else because Morgan sprinted outside. 

And that was that. 

The water balloon fight was fun. Peter got drenched, but not as much as Tony did. Morgan was brutal and wouldn’t hesitate to throw multiple water balloons at her father and spray him with the super soakers. Obviously, she wasn’t worried about her dad being hurt after everything that happened.

She clearly wasn’t worried that he would disappear. That this was just a wonderful dream that would fade away. 

There were moments when Peter stopped thinking about that too. When he was completely in the moment and just having fun. Almost like a normal teenager would have. It was great. Amazing. 

“Morguna, you’re ruthless,” Tony said when Morgan finally appeared to run out of water balloons.

Morgan just giggled. 

The rest of the evening was amazing awesome. Being around the Starks was like being part of a family. Yes, he was a family with May too, but this was still amazing. He almost wished the day would go on forever. 

But of course it eventually ended. 

Peter was getting ready for bed when his phone rang. He grabbed it, surprised to see that someone would actually call him. Normally he preferred texts. Then he saw that it was May. In a way that made it less surprising, since she was one of the few people who called him. 

Though it wasn’t cheap to call Africa and knew that he was in Wakanda. Just not why. 

He answered right away. 

“May, I’m sorry that you didn’t get my call earlier,” Peter said. He should have tried to call more than once. He had just been so worried about what he was going to be told in Wakanda. He hadn’t really believed that it would be good news. 

“It’s okay,” May said. “I was just worried, but Happy explained everything.” 

“Everything?” Peter asked. 

“Well, maybe, not everything, but he said that you had important Avengers business to do in Wakanda.” Peter could hear her smiling on the other side. “And he said that it wasn’t dangerous, which is good. I don’t think you should be fighting any super villains anytime soon.” 

Peter nodded, but then remembered that he was on the phone. “I… I don’t think I’ll have to soon.” But he had no way of knowing really. 

“So the news? It was good?” May asked. 

“It was great.” Peter grinned. “It was amazing.” 

“I can’t wait to hear about it eventually, but I know you can’t tell me right now, sweetie. I’m just glad that Happy was telling the truth about it not being dangerous,” May said. 

May was great. Really Peter was lucky to have an aunt like her. They weren’t even blood related, but she had still taken him in. 

It was tempting to just tell her everything. It wasn’t like May would tell anyone that Tony was alive. No, she would keep it a secret, just like she told no one that he was Spider-Man. But Peter knew that he wasn’t supposed to tell anyone yet and so he kept quiet, even though it was hard. 

“Yeah, it’s not dangerous here at all.” Peter paused. “You’ve been okay, right?” He still felt horrible for not calling her more even though she seemed to be fine. 

“Yes!” May said. There was a male’s voice in the background and Peter froze. May continued. “How did you like Eddie the other night?”

What was Peter supposed to say about that? He didn’t know what he thought about the guy but he set off his spidey sense and put him on edge. But May liked him and that was what mattered most. 

Peter could deal with someone if that was the case. She deserved to be happy. 

“Yeah, he seems nice,” Peter said, since it seemed like the right thing to say. 

“That’s wonderful,” May said. 

“May, are you talking to Peter?” Peter could heat Eddie say. The way he spat out Peter’s name seemed distasteful to Peter but he was probably imagining it. “Come on. We need to go to the movie. If he doesn’t call you when he’s supposed to then he’ll be fine with you leaving now.” 

Peter cringed and felt even worse. Maybe he wasn’t the best nephew. 

“Oh, Eddie, that wasn’t Peter’s fault,” May said, probably covering part of the phone. She probably assumed he didn’t hear any of this but of course he did. 

He didn’t make out the next things they said. 

“Sweetie, I have to go but I’ll see you in a couple days,” May said just as cheerfully as before, “I larb you.” 

“I larb you too,” Peter said, but hearing Eddie’s voice put him on edge again. Why did it? 

Peter hung up the phone and plugged it into his charger before throwing himself on the guest bed. He picked it up again and quickly shot a few texts to MJ and Ned. He wished that he could tell them what was going on, especially MJ. He didn’t keep secrets from her now that she knew about Spider-Man, but he knew that he didn’t have a choice.

Sleep overtook Peter soon.

At first his dreams were pleasant, but then they changed like they often did. He was back in Europe, trying to get to Fury. To tell him what he had done with EDITH so they could find a way to stop Beck. At first everything was exactly the same, not that it made it any better. Peter wanted it to be different. He wanted Fury to actually be there and to be able to stop Beck. 

Or that Peter would actually be able to do something. 

Then it changed. 

They were by the train tracks again. Peter dug his nails into his skin in his dream. He knew what was going to happened even now. He would get hit by it. He would almost die. 

Beck laughed. “You thought that everything was going to be different now, didn’t you, Peter?” 

This… this wasn’t what had happened before. Peter could hear the train coming too. In real life, he hadn’t been able to but now he couldn’t. It would run him over. This time he would die. 

“You really thought that Tony was alive. That you could go back to how things were before. Things will never be the same as they were before Thanos. The way they were before me.” 

Peter’s stomach twisted. He had to say something. He had to do something. 

But then he took a step back like he had done in real life. He didn’t want this to happen. Not again. The only time he had felt this much pain was on… Titan. 

He didn’t want any of this to happen again. 

It hit him. He couldn’t breathe. There was nothing. Just…

Peter woke up gasping. A dream. It was just another horrible dream. He tugged at his hair, until pain shot through his skull. Then he realized something. His fingers were wet. Sticky. 

He turned on the light. Blood. There was blood on his hands. He had been digging his fingers into his palm. Peter muttered a swear word. His palm looked bad. It would heal fast, but he had gotten blood on the pure white sheets. Just great. He didn’t want Tony, Pepper, or anyone else asking him questions about what happened. 

Happy knew that he had been hit by the train and everything that had happened, but Peter was hoping—no, almost praying—that he wouldn’t tell Tony everything. That was the last thing he needed. Peter could handle this. 

He went to bathroom attached to his room and soaked a wet cloth with hot water. Almost hot enough that the steam burned him. He used to get blood off clothes and his sheets before anyone knew about Spider-Man. Sometimes he would get hurt and had to keep it a secret. 

So this wasn’t anything new. 

And it wasn’t hard to get the blood out. As for his hand, it would heal fast. It already was starting to. 

He sent MJ and Ned a few texts, but they apparently were asleep because they didn’t answer. Well, Ned did once, but his text was short and random—even more so than usual—like it was when he was half asleep. 

Maybe if they had still been awake he wouldn’t have bothered trying to go back to sleep since it was now almost four thirty, but since they weren’t up, he tried sleeping. He tossed and turned for what felt like hours. 

Really it was only an hour. 

Peter groaned and pushed the blankets away. What was the point? He wasn’t going to sleep. And now that it was almost a reasonable hour he could just… say he woke up early now. 

Not that anyone would be awake. 

So he tiptoed out of his room with his phone in his hand in case MJ did wake up. Maybe he’d just go for a run. He’d take his phone in case Tony, Happy, or Pepper woke up and were worried. 

The house was completely silent. It was strange. Peter was used to hearing his neighbors’ voices through the walls at his apartment and of course the sound of the city. The honking of the cars and the chatter of the people at all hours. 

Here he couldn’t even hear the hum of the fridge. Once in the kitchen he could but it was quiet. Just a mumble. Peter scribbled a note for the adults in case they woke up and worried.

And to think some people had called him irresponsible. 

As soon as he stepped out of the house, the quiet ended. Birds chirped in the background and insects made their loud insect noise like they did in Animal Crossing in summer. Even though it was early.

It was hot even now. Hotter than it even was in New York City in the middle of summer. Peter didn’t run at first partially for that reason. He played on his phone, looking at some Vines. He couldn’t help but smile at it. 

Now it was time to actually run. He didn’t get to even take a step forward when a door creaked quietly.

Peter spun around and sure enough it was Tony who was giving him a look. One that clearly showed that he was worried.

“So you’re going for a run?” Tony asked. 

Peter nodded. He wasn’t sure he would ever get used to Tony being alive. After that dream, seeing him caused him to smile weakly. This was real. 

“Yeah,” Peter said. He actually couldn’t help but grin. Tony was alive. “Just for awhile.” 

“I’ll join you,” Tony said. 

“That…” He almost said it was good, but Tony was recovering and it was really hot outside.

“Okay, I know what you’re thinking kid, but I’m fine. I’m not going to fall over and die. Don’t get like my doctors. All paranoid.” 

“I…” 

“I’m seriously all right. Contrary to popular belief I do know when I’m okay. Don’t be like Pepper and everyone else.” 

Peter stared at him.

“I’m the adult. You’re the kid. You don’t get to worry about me.”

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Peter said.

“It makes perfect sense,” Tony said. “And like I said I’m better than fine and that’s that. Good talk. I’m going running with you now.”

“Fine,” Peter said, caving because arguing with Tony was pointless. “But I was actually just going to walk. I hate running.” 

Tony gave him a look as if he was studying him to see if he was lying. “You run when you’re Spidermanning.” 

“I don’t really have a choice. It’s worth it then.” 

Tony kept looking at him. Peter didn’t wait for him to spit out a reply and walked away. 

“Hey, don’t walk away when the adult is talking,” Tony said, hurrying over to him, but he smiled.

“You know I’ll be an adult soon—“

“Not that soon. You still have a year left.” 

“But when that year is up you won’t be able to say your whole adult is talking thing. You’ll have to come up with something else.” 

“I could still say it, but I’ll come up with something else. I’m very witty,” Tony said. “So what have you been up to the last year? Are you still friends with Fred?”

“You know he’s Ned and yeah.” Ned’s mind was going to be blown away when he found out that Tony was still alive. Not that Peter could tell him anytime soon.

“Flash still giving you shit?” Tony asked, raising his sunglasses. They looked similar to EDITH but obviously weren’t the same ones. “Because you know I never got to make him regret drugging you.” 

Peter cringed. Couldn’t Tony just forget about that? 

“Now that I’m back—“ 

“No, no, no,” Peter said because anything that Tony would want to do would be a disaster. “May and I don’t want you to do anything.” 

“And he’s still bothering you so obviously--” 

“Nope,” Peter said, popping the p. “No way.” 

He didn’t even want to think about what Tony might do. Maybe show up to the school as Iron Man or something worse. Even Pepper couldn’t stop him from doing something crazy when he had his mind set on it. 

Tony sighed. “So what else is new with you? Did you finally ever ask MJ out?” 

What? He had never told Tony what he thought about MJ. Yes, Tony had teased him about it, but Peter thought he only did that because MJ was one of his only friends and she happened to be a girl.

Maybe he had been right this one time, but he had started teasing him about it before he even liked MJ in that way. 

Tony laughed. “Yeah, I know you had a thing for her. Probably still do. She sounds scary, but in a good way. Reminds me of Pepper a bit.” 

That was a weird thought, but MJ was pretty badass like Pepper. She didn’t let anyone give her crap. That was one of the many things that Peter liked about her. 

“MJ and I are together.” Peter bit his lip, wondering what Tony was going to say about this.

His eyes widened and then he grinned. “That’s awesome. Peter Parker has a girlfriend. Wow.” 

“Why do you sound so shocked?” Peter asked, trying to look offended, but he doubted he was doing a good job of it.

“Well, I didn’t think a girl would want to hear about Star Wars all the time or… what was the other movie. Aliens? Also you can be awkward.” Tony smiled probably to let Peter know that he was kidding, but really he was right. “But she’s a lucky girl. You’re a great person.” 

“I’m the one who’s lucky.” And that was true. “She knows about how I’m Spider-Man too. She figured it out on her own.” 

“Not surprised. You’re not all that good at keeping secrets.” 

“Yes, I am. I kept being Spider-Man a secret from everyone until you found out.” 

“And I didn’t even know you when I found out. It wasn’t hard,” Tony said. Peter still wasn’t sure how he had found out. Yes, it was from watching Youtube videos, but Peter had seen all of those a million times, and he shouldn’t have been able to figure it out. 

But Tony was Tony Stark after all. 

Peter just shrugged. 

“I’ll have to meet MJ soon.”

“Maybe, if you don’t tell her any embarrassing stories,” Peter said, but of course, he would let him meet her. He had wished that Tony was able to for months now before he had started to date MJ. 

“Can’t promise you that, kiddo, but I won’t tell the worst ones. I’m nice like that.” 

Nice like that? Peter doubted it. He was probably trying to come up with the worst possible stories he could tell MJ right now.

“So why’d you wake up so early?” Tony asked. 

Peter just stared at him. 

“I remember what it was like when you would stay at the Tower. You wouldn’t wake up until noon,” Tony continued as he took off his sunglasses and looked at Peter.

“I just like to wake up early now,” Peter said, but he knew that he wasn’t going to buy that. It didn’t even sound convincing to Peter. 

“Even when you have just traveled across the world and should be jet lagged?” 

This wasn’t good. Couldn’t he go back to talking about MJ and how he was going to tell her horribly embarrassing stories about him?

“I… I don’t know. Just woke up and couldn’t sleep.” Peter shrugged his shoulders. “No big deal.” 

“May told me once that you used to have nightmares after what happened with the Vulture,” Tony said. Now that was something that Peter didn’t know. May wasn’t even supposed to know about his nightmares because he hadn’t told her. He thought that he had done a good job of hiding it. Had he been muttering something in his sleep or something? “And if that is happening now after what happened with Beck?” 

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Peter said. “I can take care of myself. And I wasn’t having nightmares, not that nightmares are a big deal.” 

Tony stared at him. “Like I’ve said a lot, you can talk to me about this kind of stuff if you ever need to.” 

Maybe Peter should. Tony was a superhero like him. He had gone through a lot and might even get what it was like to still be in pain after all the horrible things that had happened, but no… no… he couldn’t do that. He would have to tell Tony about how he was hit by a train then. How he had felt like he was going to die. 

And that would hurt him. He didn’t want Tony to feel like he had let Peter down when he obviously hadn’t. 

Also he would have to tell Tony about how he had given Beck EDITH. He couldn’t do that. Tony would be ashamed of him, and hurt. He would never understand why Peter had done that. Peter hadn’t felt worthy. He was just a kid. An orphan. 

And Beck had tricked him. 

Peter forced himself to smile. “Thanks, I’ll remember that. I’m fine right now.”

It was obvious that Tony didn’t believe him, but at least he didn’t push it further.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment. They make me grin and my day way better.


	5. Chapter 5

After Peter’s walk, he had gone right to bed. Even though sleeping had been hard before now it was easy. His dream wasn’t haunted by nightmares either. When he woke up Rhodey had been there. Apparently Rhodey had been just as shocked as Peter when he found out, but now he obviously just overjoyed that Tony was alive. 

“Platypus, I’m surprised you’re not upset that you’re going to lose the cars and vacation home you inherited,” Tony joked as he ate a cheeseburger in the living room while the three of them watched TV. Or rather sat there while the TV played and everyone ignored it. 

Rhodey rolled his eyes and glanced at the TV. 

This made Peter cringe. He knew what he needed to do. He took off EDITH and extended it to Tony. “You should take this back.” 

There was a long silence and Pepper could be heard in the background on the phone probably with someone who worked for her. 

Giving EDITH really would be for the best. He was just a teenager and Tony had probably not intended for him to get this until he was older. 

Tony stared at him and then shook his head. “Nah, Underoos. I want you to have them.” 

“But you’re not…” dead, but he didn’t complete his sentence. He didn’t even want to say that word out loud as if somehow it could reverse Tony being alive. 

“Yeah, and don’t forget it, but I still want you to have it,” Tony said with a shrug. “EDITH can kind of be like another babysitter for you.” 

Peter sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes but put the sunglasses back on. “I’m seventeen, Tony.” 

“Yeah, yeah, Underoos. You don’t need to tell me your age again. Are you trying to make me feel bad about missing your birthday? It’s not my fault I’m a prisoner here,” Tony said. “I swear I’ll make it up to you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Peter said, but he had a feeling Tony would try anyway.

“I want to.” Tony gave an evil grin. Oh great. Tony went crazy for birthdays and Peter didn’t need any presents.

Tony looked over at Rhodey. “And Southpatch, I was joking. You can keep the cars and the vacation home, too. I don’t need them.” 

“Tony…” 

“I mean it. Kid keeps EDITH and you keep cars and vacation home. Good talk,” Tony said as Morgan pretty much came running into the room and jumped on Tony’s lap.

“That’s fine with me,” Rhodey said. “They’re nice cars.” 

“Daddy, I want a car,” Morgan said. “And juice pops.” 

“You can have juice pops, but you’re a little young for a car,” Tony said as he got up with Morgan. “You two want any juice pops?”

“I do,” Peter said, since he was pretty much always hungry due to his metabolism being faster than normal people. “Grape.” 

“I’m okay,” Rhodey said. 

Tony nodded and then left to go to the kitchen with Morgan to retrieve them. The two of them had probably been gone about a minute when Rhodey cleared his throat. 

“You’ve been okay, Peter?” Rhodey asked, raising an eyebrow. “I know Tony doesn’t know everything that happened yet but I heard about it.”

Peter cringed. He shouldn’t have been surprised. Rhodey probably knew. Fury or maybe Happy had told him. 

“I’m fine but don’t… don’t tell Tony…” He wasn’t ready for Tony to know about all of that. 

Rhodey paused but then nodded. “You know he wouldn’t be upset with you. He’d be pissed at Beck.”

Peter shrugged. 

“It’s fine if you want to wait,” Rhodey said.

“Thanks.” He didn’t want someone pushing him into telling Tony everything that happened. Really there was a chance Happy would do it soon. 

“And if you ever need someone to talk about hero stuff to then you can call me.” 

That… that was so similar to what Peter had said to Beck once. He froze but only for a moment because then Morgan was in the room and shoved a juice pop in his hand. 

“Really Platypus? Trying to steal my mentee? Find your own mentee. I know mentees are in hot demand, but this one is mine.” Tony sat in between Rhodey and Peter and grinned. He has made popcorn too, which smelled almost only like butter.“I’m sure there is someone who’d like to be your mentee. Maybe.” He shrugged. 

“I’m sure there’s more than just one person,” Rhodey said.

“Maybe now that you have part of my car collection.” 

Rhodey rolled his eyes but took a handful of popcorn which he crammed in his mouth. 

Tony looked at Peter. “Don’t worry, kiddo. You can talk to Sugarbear.” Peter still thought it was weird that Tony called his best friend that but he always had nicknames for everyone. “Just don’t forget who your favorite Avenger is.” 

Peter didn’t hesitate. “Why would I forget Thor’s my favorite?” 

“You’re cruel.” Tony said, but it was obvious that he was trying not to grin by how his eyes were lit up. 

“Want to know my favorite Avenger?” Morgan asked as she ate her juice pop. 

“Obviously me. I’m probably Platypus’s favorite too.” Tony ate some popcorn. “Probably everyone’s even Legolas and Capsicle’s.” 

“Spider-Man’s my favoritest!” Morgan said, grinning.

“Wow. That’s…” Peter couldn’t help but grin. It was amazing that she would pick him when so many of the Avangers have done cooler things. 

“I used to tell her stories about you all the time,” Tony said. “About how you rescued kittens and got free churros from ladies.”

Peter wasn’t sure what to say. He knew that Morgan had been told some stories, but he didn’t know it had been all the time.

Peter couldn’t help but grin.

The rest of the weekend was amazing, and he was sad when it ended, but Tony said that he and his family would be going back to New York soon. As soon as they got permission. Peter just hoped that it really would be soon. Peter would have liked to stay longer in Wakanda, but he had to go back to school and just back home. 

Once he got back home, he had to pretend like nothing had happened. What he told people depended on who he was talking to. When it came to MJ, Ned, and May, he was just supposed to say that it was official and secret Avenger business and he could mention that it had something to do with the Starks, but he should try not to.

It was worse for normal people. He was supposed to tell them that there had been an emergency in the family and he had gone to visit family. It worked for most people he talked to but not everyone. 

“You went because of a family emergency?” Eddie asked when he had gone to dinner with him and May. He was raising his eyebrows. “How could you have a family emergency and not May? You’re in the same family.” 

“Uh…” Suddenly Peter was stuck. Nothing would come to mind even though he should have even able to spit out some kind of excuse even if it was lame. 

Yet there was nothing.

May smiled though and put her hand on Peter’s shoulder. “He was going to visit some family on his mother’s side.” 

Peter barely stopped himself from cringing at those words. His mother’s family… he wasn’t sure he had any family back there. Maybe very decent but his grandparents were dead, and his mother had been an only child. 

Maybe she had some cousins out there somewhere, but Peter didn’t know them. 

Eddie gave them both a look. He didn’t believe them obviously but then he gave them both a smile. “Oh, that’s just great.” There was an edge beneath his voice, but May didn’t seem to hear it. She grinned and kissed Eddie. 

Peter tried not to shudder.

\------------------------------------------------- 

The next few weeks were okay though. Eddie was around, yes, but usually he ignored Peter. Peter had a lot going on too with applying for colleges and just spidermanning. 

He wanted to stay busy. Peter was still having to keep Tony being alive a secret and it was really wearing him down. MJ knew he had a secret and he hated lying to her. Yet he kept doing it. 

But he told her he would tell her everything soon. 

Tony was texting him a lot too. Apparently he was very bored or maybe he had missed Peter as much as he had missed him. Peter doubted it. 

Tony was apparently so bored that Peter actually could now convince him to play games online with him. Tony was somehow the worst at Fortnite. Having him on his team always caused him to lose. 

Peter had even mentioned this and of course Tony had got defensive. 

“How could I be bad at Fortnite?” Tony texted. “I’m good at everything.” 

Peter rolled his eyes. The next time Tony actually didn’t die right away. For a short time, Peter had believed Tony was improving. 

Then he found out, he had Morgan play for him and he had just talked during it. 

That was kind of risky too, but no one had suspected he was Tony Stark. The other users just thought he was a dad who sucked at the game but was trying to learn to impress his kids. 

No one had ever accused him of being Tony Stark, but once when the two of them were playing someone named Noobmaster69 claimed to know Thor and had said he was a “dickhead.” Tony had laughed though when Noobmaster69 mentioned that. 

Tony was better at Smash Bros, but Peter could still always beat him. He was just that good. One of Peter’s new hobbies was making Mario Maker courses that was impossible for Tony to beat. 

After he failed Tony would always text how he wanted his lab back. Peter knew he still was working on things, but he was more limited than before.

Despite how bad Tony was, Peter secretly thought he liked playing with him. 

And maybe today after patrol they could play again.

At least that was what Peter hoped but patrol was crazy. It was like every criminal in the city was trying to break the law. A couple times Peter almost got shot. 

But he had saved a someone and that made it more than worth it. 

After everything, Peter knew that he should head right home, but sometimes after a long day of patrolling, he would swing through the city for awhile. 

It was best to clear his mind. 

And he didn’t realize that it was so late but when he stopped, he realized that it was eleven. It wasn’t that bad really. His curfew was eleven on weekends, but May would understand. He quickly shot her a text and headed home. He didn’t get a response because she was probably sleeping. 

It didn’t take him that long to get there. Only twenty minutes since recently May had been worried about the neighbors seeing him come through the window so now he’d stop swinging a few blocks away and then come to the door the normal way. Apparently, this was best since one of their neighbors didn’t seem to believe in sleep and would sit looking out their window for hours at time.

But it was fine. It only took a few minutes and Peter was at the front door. He opened it to darkness. So maybe was sleeping. No surprise. 

Then the lights flicked on. 

And it wasn’t May. 

It was Eddie’s whose hair was ruffled as if he had been sleeping. He narrowed his eyes at Peter. That wasn’t a surprise. He was always glaring at him. “Where were you?” 

This was not what Peter had been expecting. Yes, he knew that May and Eddie had gone on a date earlier, but he was sure that he would have left before Peter came home. But it appeared he planned to sleep over since he was wearing just sweatpants and an old shirt. Pajamas obviously. 

“Nowhere,” Peter said because it really wasn’t any of his business what he was doing. He wasn’t his father or his uncle or even a mentor. He was no one to him. 

“Nowhere?” Eddie said as he moved closer to him. Peter’s spidey senses were going crazy, but he ignored them. 

“Nowhere that you need to worry about,” Peter said. He sighed and realized he should probably be nicer since she was May’s boyfriend and she liked him. It was just… Peter didn’t know what he thought about Eddie. 

Eddie sighed and went over to him. “Obviously you were somewhere.” 

“It… I was just studying with my friend Ned,” Peter said. 

“Why do I not believe that?” 

Anger shot through Peter. Really? Was he really going to act this way? “I’ll explain to May tomorrow why I was late. She’ll understand.” He would tell he the real reason. Now that she knew about Spider-Man, he didn’t have to lie about things like this. 

It had made his life easier. 

“I can’t believe what she lets you get away with. My father wouldn’t have let me get away with this when I was your age.” 

Peter didn’t really care about Eddie’s father and what he had or hadn’t allowed him to do. He was tired and just wanted to get some rest, so he tried to walk past him. 

But then he grabbed his arm. Tightly and actually twisted. It hurt but obviously Peter had gone through so much worse. Still he was shocked. But he didn’t do anything, even though he could have since he was Spider-Man after all.

“You don’t walk away when I’m talking to you,” Eddie said. 

Peter yanked his arm away. “Don’t grab me.” He had no right to touch him, especially that hard. Yes, something like that didn’t really hurt him that badly, especially since he was Spider-Man, but he still had no right. 

“Then don’t stay up late. May’s already stressed enough thanks to you.” 

Thanks to him? But maybe he was right. Having Peter be Spider-Man couldn’t be easy for May. She had to worry about him, especially after Thanos. 

“I’m going to tell her you were out after curfew in the morning.” 

“Fine, but I’m going to bed.” He walked away again, and this time Eddie didn’t stop him. Peter shot his door locking it behind him. He looked at his wrist which was red. He could still see the finger print marks on his skin.

But he’d be fine. It would heal in a few minutes. 

Still, what a weirdo.

\------------

The next day, just like he threatened, Eddie told May what had happened. Eddie must have thought that Peter was asleep or just that he couldn’t hear them. Obviously, Peter could because he had enhanced hearing. 

Mostly it was just Eddie complaining about Peter and how he was out of control and breaking all May’s rules. May had ended up saying something about how she would handle Peter, and Eddie had caved, even though judging from the dramatic sigh that he gave, he wasn’t happy about it. 

Eddie had mostly ignored him after that, but occasionally would glare in Peter’s direction. That is until one day a couple weeks later when Peter had been playing Fortnite again with Tony who had improved a bit. Apparently Cap also knew that Tony was alive now because he had joined too.

Somehow Steve was so bad that he made Tony look like Ninja. Not only would Steve struggle at even walking forward, but he would also occasionally lecture the other players if they swore too much. 

They had just started another game when without even knocking Eddie came into Peter’s room. He put his arm around Peter’s shoulder. “Hey, Peter.” 

Why was he doing that? Peter cringed but didn’t make him move his arm away from his shoulder.

“Who is that?” Tony said through the headset. 

“It’s… I…” 

“I need to talk to you. So stop playing your little game,” Eddie said. 

Peter was actually about to do that and to tell Tony that he would be right back, but then Eddie actually pulled the controller away and tossed it to the ground. He yanked his headset down after. 

Eddie smiled as if it wasn’t a big deal. “You can go back to it after.” 

“Uh… okay…” Eddie didn’t act this way in front of May. He even was nice to Peter then. 

“I just realized we might have… gotten off on the wrong foot,” Eddie said.

Peter could hear Tony saying something over the headset, but the words didn’t make sense to him. 

“We should go have lunch sometime, just the two of us,” Eddie said, giving him a forced looking smile that didn’t come close to reaching his eyes. 

Peter stared at him. 

“May would like it,” Eddie said. 

May… Yeah, May would want the two of them to get along. And May still was happy with Eddie. The least Peter could do was be nice to him too. 

“Yeah, fine, whatever.” Peter shrugged.

Eddie grinned. “Thanks, I’ll tell May.” 

Yeah, Peter was sure he would since he was positive it was her idea. Still Peter nodded, hoping that Eddie would just leave. Luckily, he did. Peter rolled his eyes and picked up his controller and then fixed his headset.

“Who was that?” Tony asked.

“He’s…” Peter sighed. “I’ll tell you later.” 

But he didn’t want to. Not really.

Tony probably would have asked more questions, but then luckily he got killed in the game.

“What the hell? How is it that the Noobmaster69 guy? What the fu—”

“Language!” Steve said.

That just made Tony swear more, and Peter couldn’t help but grin for a second despite that things were getting weird at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. Also I just made a writing tumblr! I'm RedfieldFamilyFan24 on tumblr. Feel free to follow me. 
> 
> Thank you all for the comments. They make my days way better, even when I'm at work. I love you all soooooo much. Thank you so much.


	6. Chapter 6

“If you don’t want to see him then you should just tell May,” MJ said as Peter ate lunch in the cafeteria with her and Ned. 

“I just…” 

“She’ll be okay with you saying that you don’t want to be around her boyfriend.” MJ took a bite of her sandwich. “He sounds like a loser.” 

Ned nodded and ate some of his Oreo cookies. 

“I… I guess,” Peter said, even though he completely agreed. “But he makes May happy.” 

“I doubt May would want to be with someone you don’t like.” MJ put her hand on Peter’s. 

“She’s right, dude,” Ned said as he ate another Oreo and offered one to Peter. Peter shook his head. “May wouldn’t want to be with someone who you didn’t like. She loves you a lot.” 

MJ just nodded.

“Yeah, I know,” Peter said, looking at his food. He didn’t really want to talk about this too much. Yes, he knew that they were right to a point, but May had done so much for him. He shouldn’t be asking for her to make sacrifices for him.

Dealing with Eddie was the least that he could do for Aunt May. 

“So what are you going to do, loser?” MJ asked, looking at him with her big brown eyes. 

Peter froze. “I…” 

Luckily then the lunch bell rung, and they had no choice but to go back to class. MJ gave him a look, but Peter just shrugged hoping both she and Ned would drop it. 

And he got lucky and they didn’t mention it too much after that. MJ had a few times, but he was able to change the subject. The next few days, the subject had hardly been breached although Tony also seemed suspicious and kept asking Peter all sorts of questions about who had been in the room the other day. 

Steve had dropped it that day, but Tony, of course hadn’t. Tony was so different than he had been before the snap. Much more open and affectionate. It was good, but he also was nosier and seemed to be concerned about whatever Peter did. 

As if Peter was a little kid and not Spider-Man. 

On Saturday when he was just relaxing in his room, he had made the mistake of telling Tony that he was going on a date with MJ. He had gotten super fatherly and had told him to be careful. Then he had gone off on a story about when he was a teenager and how he should be prepared if he was going to have sex, but it would be better if he waited. 

Peter had honestly not even known what to say. It was surreal that this was the same Tony Stark who had been known for being promiscuous.

And even through his texts he seemed concerned about the Eddie thing. He kept asking over and over what Eddie was like and if Peter liked him and how he treated him and Aunt May. Peter always just said fine and didn’t go into details.

“I’m just checking on you, Underoos. Trying to make sure you’re OK.” Tony texted back. “Don’t want you to have to deal with assholes at home and when you’re patrolling.”

Peter hadn’t even known how to respond to that. He had missed so much over the last five years when he had been… gone… Tony was different. He wasn’t the same person he had been before. He was much more fatherly than before. 

It was sad that Peter had to miss so much. 

Peter managed to dodge his question and soon the two of them just texted about Spider-Man things. The next two days were busy but finally Saturday came along. 

Peter was trying to catch up on homework. Tonight, he wanted to get some serious patrolling done and tomorrow evening he was taking MJ out. However, then there was a knock on his bedroom door and Eddie came in without waiting. Peter tried not to react. 

Somehow, he managed not to cringe.

“Hey kid, ready to go to lunch?” Eddie asked. 

That was today? They hadn’t talked about when it would be, right? But now would be a good time. Yanking the Band-Aid off. 

“Uh… yeah sure,” Peter said. He was just wearing jeans and one of his science shirts. 

“If you’re busy it’s not a big deal,” Eddie said, shrugging as went back toward the door. Despite his words there was an edge to his voice. 

“No, I want to go.” He wanted to because it would make May happy. Maybe Eddie was just awkward.

It was just getting along with him wasn’t easy. With Happy, he didn’t have to worry about what he did. 

“Good. I’m glad to hear that.” 

Peter nodded and crammed his homework back in his backpack before following Eddie to the living room. May came over and kissed Eddie before hugging Peter. 

“I’m glad you two are doing this,” May said, letting him go. Yep, Peter knew that she would be. She had liked how he got along with Happy. 

“It’ll be good,” Peter said, still trying to smile even though his stomach was twisting. 

“Yeah, the kid and I—”

“Don’t call me that,” Peter said, not able to keep himself from spitting it out. 

Eddie gave him a look and then laughed. “But you are a kid.”

No, he wasn’t, but that wasn’t why he didn’t want him to call him that. 

“Peter had a mentor who called him kid,” May said. “He was like a dad to him.” 

Peter froze. Tony called him all sorts of things and yes that was one of them. He didn’t want Eddie using any nicknames that people he liked used for him. 

“Yeah, I just miss him,” Peter said. 

“And who was this?” 

“He was…” Peter didn’t want to talk to Eddie about the Stark internship or Tony. “Like May said. My mentor.” 

Eddie opened his mouth but then must have decided it wasn’t worth it to ask more questions about that and shrugged. 

“Let’s go,” Eddie said. He put his hand on Peter’s shoulder and Peter cringed. Just couldn’t help it. Eddie didn’t mention it. 

Peter nodded and they went down to his car. The ride was… awkward. Neither of them said anything, but Eddie didn’t turn on any music. 

Finally, they arrived at a burger place. The place was packed full of people and the smell of delicious fries was in the air. Peter’s stomach grumbled. 

“You’re hungry,” Eddie said as they sat at a table. “Good. There’ll be a lot to eat here.” 

But Peter knew that it wasn’t be enough. It wouldn’t be like when he went places with May, Happy, or Tony who understood that because of his powers he had to eat more than most people. 

Now he’d have to hold back. 

The whole experience was awkward but not completely horrible even though Peter’s spidey sense was slightly going off. He kept having to engage in small talk and Eddie’s complaining about how MIT would be too expensive and how Peter should go to community college first. 

“I haven’t even applied anywhere yet,” Peter said, although that was going to change soon.

“I’ve seen your applications.” Eddie rolled his eyes. Really? So he had been snooping in his room when he wasn’t there? It was a miracle Peter had moved the Iron Spider suit to the closet. Maybe he would have to talk to Tony about moving it to the Tower.

“Don’t go into my room,” Peter muttered, knowing it was rude, but he couldn’t help it. “May wouldn’t want that.” 

“Don’t tell me what May would or wouldn’t like,” Eddie said. He opened his mouth to say more but then the waitress came with their burgers. 

Even though Peter had been hungry before now he wasn’t sure he would be able to eat at all. 

Eddie remained quiet until the waitress was gone. “Listen, Peter, I know we’re very different people, but I’m dating your aunt and you need to respect that.”

“I never said I didn’t.” Peter forced himself to eat some fries even though now they tasted like cardboard. 

“It’s obvious. I don’t know what’s wrong with you. I’ve been nice,” Eddie said.

“It…” Peter took a long sip of his water. It was like he couldn’t talk.

“And I like you even though you’re weird and obviously disobedient. I know someone like you probably wishes he had a father. You’re an orphan or something.”

“I had a father,” Peter said even though he could barely remember him. “And my uncle was like a dad to me.” He had raised him after all and had always been there for him. 

And he sort of had a father figure now. Maybe two but Eddie wasn’t one of them. 

Eddie shrugged. “May wants us to get along and I bet she would want me to make sure that you don’t go out of control.” 

Peter ripped at his napkin. “I’m almost an adult and you’re not my father.” 

He thought that Eddie would argue more with him, but he rolled his eyes. “Well, I want to start over with you. I know the other day I got angrier than I should have.”

“Yeah, fine,” Peter said and then he took a huge bite of his burger since he didn’t want to say anything and then Eddie wouldn’t expect a reply.” 

“I’m honestly just trying. I love your aunt.” 

Now Peter couldn’t help but cringe. Maybe May wouldn’t like him as much Eddie liked her. 

Eddie kept looking at him. 

“Okay,” Peter finally choked out. “I just want May to be happy.” 

And that was the truth. 

“I want that too,” Eddie said. 

After that they didn’t say much else. Peter forced himself to eat even though he didn’t feel hungry. He didn’t trust Eddie. If he ever did anything to May, well… he would regret it. 

Even when they went in the car, they didn’t say much. Eddie finally turned on the radio. It was a popular rock song that Peter used to like but now he wasn’t that sure. 

Eddie kept looking at him as if he expected for him to say something so Peter kept himself occupied by playing on his phone. He said MJ and Ned texts saying that it had been weird. 

They tried to ask more, but Peter just said something about how he was just weird, but he cared about May and that was all that mattered.

The car came to a stop in front of the apartment. “Uh thanks. For the food I mean.” 

“You’re welcome, kid.” He smirked at him and Peter glared at him. That was what Tony and Happy and some of the other Avengers called him. “But I mean it. It’s not a problem.”

“Yeah, well, thanks anyway,” Peter said, opening his door. 

Eddie got out too. Great… Peter had been hoping that he would just go home. He should have known that he wouldn’t be lucky enough. 

Peter took a few steps away when his spidey sense went off. Eddie tried to grab his arm and Peter dodged him. 

Eddie put his hands up. “I don’t think we should tell your aunt about our talk.” 

Peter wasn’t sure but he could handle this. And May was happy. He didn’t want to ruin it. But that didn’t mean that he couldn’t talk to her at all about it. 

Maybe Eddie was just weird but still. 

“Fine,” Peter said since he knew that was the answer that Eddie wanted. It wasn’t like he had to follow through the promise. 

“She’s an amazing woman.”

That was something that Peter actually agreed with him on. 

“And there is something else I need to tell you. Something we should have talked about in the car.” 

“Okay?” Peter said, shifting his weight from one foot to another. 

“May and I are going to move in together.” Eddie sighed and rolled his eyes. “I wanted us to move into my place, but she went on and on about how you’re a senior and you should be able to be with your friends and how this is your home.” 

Peter was frozen in place and couldn’t even think about what to say. May and Eddie were going to move in together, but they had just got together. Did she even like him that much? Why would she? 

But maybe there was more to him than Peter could see?

“That’s… Okay…” 

It was the least that Peter could do for May even though it was going to make his life so much harder. Spidermanning would be like it used to be before she knew. Probably worse actually since May had trusted him and it was obvious that was far from the case with Eddie who somehow thought that he could boss him around. 

“I know the two of us have gotten off to a bad start, but we should try and get along,” Eddie said. 

Peter just forced himself to nod, but apparently that was enough. Eddie tried to put his hand on his shoulder, but Peter moved away. Eddie did roll his eyes, but he didn’t say anything so that was fine. Really it didn’t matter if Eddie liked Peter or not. Just as long as May was happy, and he didn’t interfere in Peter’s Spider-Man activities. 

Neither of them said anything else and they went up the stairs of the apartment. Peter could hear May talking on the phone all excited. She still liked talking on the phone even though Peter didn’t get it. Texting was better.

He opened the door and pushed it open, stepping in. May wasn’t alone. No, not at all. 

Tony was here. He hadn’t told Peter that he was going to be able to come back to the city yet. He had still been acting like it could be awhile. 

Tony grinned when he saw him. “Hey kid, surprise.” His smile faltered when Peter must not have reacted the way that he wanted. “You okay, kiddo?”

Peter didn’t even answer and hurried over, almost tripping over his own feet, while he ran over to hug Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually have chapter 7 done, and I'll probably post it on Wednesday. Chapter 8 is almost done too. Please comment. It makes me so happy. I love you all :D


	7. Crazy Boyfriends and Car Adventures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to post this Wednesday, but people were asking for it sooner so here it is.

Unlike two years ago, Tony hugged Peter back instantly. A door closed in the background, but Peter didn’t care.

“It’s okay,” Tony said. “Everything’s okay, right, kid?” 

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Peter said, finally pulling away. “I’m just so glad you’re back.” 

Even though he knew he was alive and texted with him for weeks, seeing him again… it was great.

There was a gasp. “You’re Tony Stark. You’re Iron Man,” Eddie couldn’t look away. His eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his skull 

Tony put his arm around Peter’s shoulder. “Yep, but keep quiet about it. Pepper and I are going to announce I’m alive in a couple weeks. Want to keep it hush hush until then.”

Eddie just couldn’t seem to look away. 

“I… how..” Eddie couldn’t even seem to blink. “You’re Iron Man.” 

“Yeah, we already established that,” Tony said.

“But you’re dead.” 

“That story is all very good, but not in the mood to tell it. All that matters is that I’m alive.” Tony grinned at Peter and Peter couldn’t help but smile back. “So who are you?”

“This is my new boyfriend, Eddie,” May said. 

“Oh… well it’s nice to meet you, I guess,” Tony said, shrugging. “You were the one lecturing my kid?” 

“What?” Eddie asked, staring. 

“When I was playing with the kid on Forkknife. The kid likes it so…” Tony said. “It’s the least I can do. Playing with my kid. Besides, someone needs to teach him now to play. He’s not that good.” 

Not that good? Tony was the one who wasn’t good, and he knew that. 

“It’s called Fortnite, not Forkknife,” Peter said, without reacting at all. 

“Your kid?” Eddie asked actually taking a step back. 

Tony just grinned. Peter knew he should say something, but he didn’t. 

“But I thought Peter was an orphan. He’s not… he can’t be your kid. His last name is Parker, not Stark.” 

“Last names don’t matter.” Tony touched Peter’s curls. “And look at the two of us. Isn’t he just a mini version of me? He has my eyes.”

The funny thing was. Peter and Tony did have similar eyes. Almost exactly the same even if they weren’t related. 

“You…” Eddie looked back and forth between the two of them as if he was trying to figure out if it was the truth. “You do look alike…” 

May smiled and shook her head. “Tony’s teasing you. He’s not Peter’s biological father.”

“Not that I know of at least,” Tony said. “But I did get around a lot back when he was born so no one knows for sure.”

Now it was Peter’s turn to roll his eyes. “Tony…” 

Yes, it was fun to trick people occasionally, especially Captain America, but now wasn’t the time for that. There was no way that May was going to let him do this anyway. 

Tony just grinned. “Oh, Eddie, don’t tell anyone about me being here and, you know, alive. Pepper and I are going to have an announcement soon and if it gets out… well I’ll know who did it.” 

Eddie still couldn’t look away from him, but he somehow managed to nod.

“Good and that--”

“Why is Peter your intern? He’s just…” 

Even Peter could fill in the blank for him. Really without Spider-Man he was a normal kid. Nothing special really. Yes, he was smart, but that was about all. And it wasn’t like he was a genius like Tony was. Before he had become Spider-Man, he had no athletic talent either and he was awkward and got too excited about things like Star Wars. 

“He’s just brilliant,” Tony said. 

May actually grinned when he said that. 

“He’s an amazing kid and Peter and I have a lot in common.” 

“You have a lot in common with Peter?” 

Tony just nodded. 

“Like what?” 

Like the fact that they were both superheroes. Not many people would understand what that was like. Obviously, there was no way that even Tony would think to say that to Eddie. 

“The kid and I both like to invent things. He helps me work on my Iron Man suits too.” Tony grinned. “He helps me work on suits for other people in my team too.” 

He probably meant Spider-Man suits, but he had worked on some other ones with him too. It was fun working on them and an honor. The first time Tony had let him, he had been shocked. Working on the Spider-Man suit was one thing, but Iron Man and other Avengers’ was completely different. 

“And the kid is pretty much a genius.” 

“I’m not a genius,” Peter muttered.

“Humble too, which is something that we obviously don’t share.”

“He… wow…” Eddie said. 

“And now I really just want to talk to the kid alone,” Tony said, grabbing Peter’s arm and pulling him toward the front door. “But don’t worry, I’ll bring him back in a couple hours.” 

“Have fun, Peter,” May said, beaming. She was taking that Tony was alive really well, not that it surprised Peter. Now she never seemed to be surprised by anything that happened that involved superheroes. 

Eddie still just couldn’t look away. 

Peter let Tony pull him out of the apartment. Once in the hallway, Tony let go of him and put some very un-EDITH looking sunglasses on and a baseball hat. He completed the look by pulling up his hood. 

“You know that disguise doesn’t work,” Peter said as he followed Tony down the stairs. “TMZ always catches people when they do that.” 

Tony gave him a look but ignored him. Peter just continued following him to the car which had been parked in an alley not far away. 

“So…” Tony said as they both got in and he locked the door. The car’s windows were tinted, and the car wasn’t nearly as fancy as most the ones he drove, but it still looked like it stood out in Queens.

“I’m really glad you’re finally back.” Peter grinned. Maybe things would be less weird now. Even if they weren’t, at least he would be able to look forward to hanging out with Tony as well as MJ and Ned. “I know you were going to go crazy if you were stuck in Wakanda any longer.” 

“I still can’t do much,” Tony said as he turned the car on and then pulled out of the alley. “But what I said about Pepper and I having a conference soon is true.” 

“That’s great.” And it would be. Now Tony wouldn’t have to feel like he was in prison all the time. He had saved the world. He deserved to be able to whatever he wanted. 

“Yeah so now I’m not going to lose mind.” Tony ruffled Peter’s hair before putting his hand back on the steering wheel. 

“So what are we going to do today?” Peter asked.

“We can work in the lab.” Tony shrugged. “I’d say we can do whatever but still in jail for now. Can’t have people knowing I’m alive too soon.”

“Yeah, people would freak out,” Peter said, grinning.

“It would blow their minds,” Tony said as he drove toward the tower. “So….”

“So what?” Peter asked.

“This Eddie guy? He seems…” 

“He’s weird,” Peter muttered. “They’re moving in together.” 

“I didn’t know they were dating that long.” 

Peter just shrugged and looked out the window. Yes, he didn’t like Eddie that much, but he wasn’t going to act like a child about this. Besides soon he would be in college and wouldn’t have to see him as much. 

“You don’t like him or something?” 

“He’s weird,” Peter said again, still not looking at Tony. “But it’s always weird when she dates.”

That had been true, but no one had ever set off his spidey sense before. He even liked Happy. Yes, it had been strange especially when he stayed the night, but it was okay. 

“So you don’t like him?” 

“May likes him,” Peter said, wishing that Tony would just turn on AC/DC or Led Zeppelin or some other really old music.

“That’s not what I asked.”

“I’m seventeen. I’m not—“

“Yes, I know how old you are, remember?”

“What I’m trying to say is I’m not a child. It doesn’t matter if I like him or not. I just want her to be happy.” 

“Kid, you’re a good person, and it’s sweet you care so much about your aunt’s happiness.”

“Well… it’s… it’s my fault what happened to my uncle,” Peter confessed. Tony actually pulled over to the side of the road.

“What?” Tony asked, raising an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I had just gotten my powers and I… I was being stupid. Trying to be rebellious and Uncle Ben was trying to find me and…” Peter wiped at his eyes. Even now it still hurt. “If I hadn’t been stupid then maybe he wouldn’t have been shot or if I had been there or—“

“It’s not your fault,” Tony said.

“I thought… with Beck. He said it was my fault what happened to you too.” 

Now Tony looked angry instead of just confused. “Really? That prick said that?”

Peter flinched. This had been a mistake. “Uh, he said maybe if I was better then you would be alive.”

Tony slammed his hand on the steering wheel. “Well he’s full of shit and I’m glad he’s dead. There was nothing you could have done.”

“Yes, there is,” Peter muttered. He had thought about this a lot the last few months. 

“And what is that?” 

“I could have done the snap.” Peter had the gauntlet after all. He had plenty of chances.

There was a long silence. It had started to rain and the only sounds that could be hear were cars in the background and the rain pattering on the window.

“Don’t say that. Don’t even think that,” Tony said. Peter stopped looking out the window and saw Tony Stark gripping the wheel hard enough that it almost looked painful. 

“I have powers and maybe I could have survived it.”

“No! No! Just no. The last thing I would have wanted was for you to do the snap. Seriously, Underoos. You wouldn’t have survived that. Bruce didn’t even think Thor would have. It’s a miracle I did.” He rubbed his face with his hands and sighed. “I know you’re grown sort of but you’re still young and snapping would have been… Jesus, you would have died.”

“I…” Peter felt a lump in his throat.

“I’m glad it was me,” Tony muttered. “It’s better than it being you. I would never have forgiven myself if you were the one who snapped. God, I hate the very thought of it.” 

Peter didn’t even know what to say so he just looked at the dashboard.

“So don’t ever let Beck or anyone blame you for what happened with me or your uncle,” Tony said. His voice had calmed. He reached out and ruffled his hair.

“Okay,” Peter said but it was hard to even say that. 

“And I still want to know exactly what you think about Eddie. Not just that your aunt likes him. I’d hope your aunt would like him since the two of them are dating, Underoos.” 

“He’s… I think he thinks he has to be all fatherly and like strict and weird.”

“Strict?” Tony asked.

“He was bitching at me the other day for being up after curfew.” Peter rubbed his arm at the thought, even though the marks he had that night had faded almost right away and it wasn’t a big deal. 

If Eddie had really tried to hurt him then he would do something. 

“I was just Spidermanning, not that he knows that. It’s none of his business and I don’t want his to pretend like he’s my dad and that he can order me around.” 

Tony studied his face as if he was trying to figure out if he was keeping some kind of secret.

“I can talk to him or May if he’s being too much of an asshole.”

“I don’t need you to talk to May for me,” Peter said. “I’m…” He was about to say grownup but then Tony would just go on again about that. “I’m Spider-Man.” 

“Yeah, but he’s her boyfriend and you’re so good and sweet that you probably wouldn’t want to hurt her feelings.” 

Peter just glared at him.

But it didn’t deter Tony. “And as for Eddie, I know you don’t like to be an asshole, but I don’t have a problem with being a dick.” 

“I can deal with Eddie. He’s just an asshole. I’ve dealt with a lot worse people than him,” Peter said. 

“Yeah, but it wasn’t like the Vulture or Thanos were living with you and dating your aunt.”

Peter just shrugged, although that was a very disturbing thought. 

“Just saying, kiddo.” 

“I just don’t like him acting like he’s my dad and like he can boss me around. I barely even know him. I already have father figures.” Peter sort of regretted when that last sentence came out but at the same time part of him did not. 

“You think I’m like a father to you?” Tony actually grinned. “Well, like I said before, you’re like a son to me. I missed you all the time… before…” Tony’s eyes brightened. “Tell Eddie he doesn’t need to pretend to be your dad because I can do that.”

Peter tried not to grin. He tried not to react too much at all. Hearing this… well, Peter liked having a father figure. Since losing Ben… 

Well, maybe his issues were why he had been so eager to trust Beck.

He didn’t want to look too happy about Tony saying things like this because maybe it would freak him out. He would never be his son. 

“That… you don’t have to.”

“I want to. Good talk, kiddo.”

Peter once again tried not to smile. 

“Tell me if Eddie is too much of a dick. I’ll deal with him.”

“But I—“

“You’re Spider-Man and seventeen. I know you can deal with him. You’re strong. Way more than Eddie or me even, but I could still deal with him as a favor to you.”

“But you don’t have—“

“I don’t have to do anything but I’d want to. So tell me if he becomes too much of an asshole, capiche?” 

No, Peter could deal with this himself. Still he nodded. “But he’s fine right now.” 

“Great,” Tony said as he turned off the car. Before Peter could ask why he did that. He tossed the keys at him. “You’re driving.” 

“What?” 

“You don’t have your license yet, kiddo?” 

“No…” and he didn’t practice driving much in the city either. He didn’t need his license that much with all the transportation in New York City.

“Well then you need to practice. Get out of the car. We’re switching places.” 

“Someone might see you, Mr. Stark.” Peter tried to say, but Tony got out of the car and he had no choice but to also and switch places with him. 

“See, it was fine. And I told you to cut it out with the Mr. Stark thing. I thought we had a good talk about that, and we were in agreement.”

Peter just stared at him. 

“Driving time,” Tony said as he turned up his music. “Don’t get me killed, kiddo. Just came back from the dead and don’t want to die again.”

Peter gasped and his eyes widened. He didn’t want to get in a wreck and be the reason Tony got hurt.

“Kid, sorry, bad joke. I’m sure you’ll be fine. I know you’ve driven around before. And I’m okay.” 

“Your car is so expensive. I don’t want to ruin it.”

“You won’t. You’ll be fine.”

“Fine...” Peter said as he pulled the car onto the street. He was not looking forward to this. 

It seemed like all the random people of New York wanted to do was walk in the middle of the road. The other cars kept cutting him off too and once a taxi car driver had swore at him.

The whole time Tony didn’t seem to care and kept playing on his phone. 

“Hey, so, kid, I want to show you some new plans I have for your Spider-Man suit. I have some designs here if you want to see them.” Tony tried to show him even as he was driving. He kept putting the phone right in front of Peter’s face.

“Stop that! I can’t look at that now!”

“Geez, kid, you’re going to be fine,” Tony said, rolling his eyes. “Your spidey senses will tell you if you’re going to crash.” 

Peter was going to tell him that he didn’t know for sure that it would, but he stayed quiet. 

And Tony turned out to be right. 

They did tell him when he was going to crash, but it was too late to do anything then. He crashed into a stop sign when they were so close to the Tower.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry. I’m such an idiot,” Peter said. He couldn’t believe it. Why was he so stupid? Tony was going to kill him.

“Wow… I didn’t see that coming,” Tony said, taking off his sunglasses. He wasn’t yelling at him like he thought and instead was just staring at him, looking stunned. 

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Stark. I didn’t mean to ruin your car.” 

Why did he always have to mess up? He always ruined everything. He had been so close to the Tower.

“Kid…” Tony said as he unlocked the passenger door. “I’ll deal with this.” 

“What?! No you can’t! People will see you.” Yes there wasn’t that many people around but there was still people around. People would know he was still alive. 

“I don’t care. I—“ he didn’t get to finish because then someone knocked on Peter’s window. He looked and of course it was the police. “Oh my god.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Just unroll the window.” 

Peter did what he said even though he was shaking. The police officer stared at him and he was about to say something when Tony leaned over.

“Hey officer, sorry about my kid crashing into that sign.” Tony actually put his hand on Peter’s shoulder and grinned. “My kid’s just learning how to drive, but don’t worry, I’ll pay for all the damage.” 

The police officer’s eyes widened. “You’re… are you seriously Iron Man?”

There that was. The cop seemed to not even care about the whole Tony calling him his kid because the whole being alive when you were supposed to be dead was much bigger than Tony potentially having a secret child. 

“Yep,” Tony said, popping the p. “That’s me.”

“But you’re dead!”

“It’s a long story, but I recovered. There is going to be a huge press conference soon and you’ll hear the whole story,” Tony said. 

“That’s amazing,” the police officer said. He looked at the two of them but mostly Tony. “Follow me. I need to talk to the two of you, but…” he looked behind him. There were people staring. 

“Sure,” Tony said. 

“You can drive without getting in a crash?” the police officer asked Peter. 

All he could do was nod. 

The police officer left, and Peter did his best to follow him without crashing. He managed to do it but he was shaking.

And why wasn’t Tony yelling at him? Peter almost wished he would just because waiting made it so much worse.

They stopped in a parking garage that somehow was empty. It was kind of sketchy, but Tony actually smiled weakly and put his hand on Peter’s shoulder.

“Mr. Stark, I’m—“ 

“Don’t call me that,” Tony said without much emotion. He then got out of the car. 

What was Peter supposed to do? Should he get out too or would he get shot if he did that? He’d be able to avoid if the cop tried.

Maybe but he was nervous and stressed because of the wreck so his senses were going crazy. 

And maybe it would be a bad idea to avoid it since then the cop would know he wasn’t a normal person. 

Peter tried to wait in the car but after a minute it became too much and he stepped out. The police officer was still talking to Tony and didn’t glance at Peter.

“You have no idea how grateful I am. My daughter was lost in the snap and now she’s back. I could never repay you,” the cop’s voice broke and he looked down at the ground.

Peter froze. 

Tony nodded. “I’m… it’s the least I could do.”

“You saved her. I wish there was something I could do.” 

“I guess there is. My kid here.” Tony reached out and pulled Peter over. “He didn’t mean to crash. It was just a mistake. My son’s just learning how to drive.”

Peter almost choked on his spit when he said this. His son. Yes, he might say he was like a son to him, but he never called him that in front of someone else unless he was playing a trick on someone.

He must think the cop was more likely to let him off if he said he was his son. 

“And I’ll pay for the sign obviously,” Tony said. “And any other property damage.”

Peter just looked down even as Tony put his arm over his shoulder.

“It’s fine,” the police officer said. “What’s your son’s name?” 

“Peter,” Peter muttered. 

“So Peter Stark?” 

Peter cringed. He wasn’t a Stark.

“Parker actually. Peter Parker,” Tony didn’t seem fazed by this at all. Peter thought he would make up some kind of story about why he didn’t have his last name, but he didn’t expand on it. If anything that confused Peter more. Normally when Tony pretended Peter was his son and people found out his last name wasn’t Stark, he’d have a big story as to why.

The police officer and Tony talked for a bit more. Peter stayed quiet pretty much the whole time only saying a couple words when he had to. 

Eventually they finally could leave. 

“Remind me not to let you drive Morgan anywhere,” Tony said going to the driver’s seat. Fine with Peter. He hadn’t wanted to drive to begin with.

“I’m sorry,” Peter whispered.

“You don’t need to say that. It’s fine. Whatever. I have plenty of cars. Rhodey didn’t get all of them. I can have this car fixed anyway. There isn’t that much damage.” 

“I’m still sorry,” Peter murdered. “I messed up.”

“I shouldn’t have let you drive when you said you didn’t want to.” He shrugged. “So oh well. This car is the best for you to crash to be honest. It’s a strong car. Spiderlings less likely to get hurt.”

Peter stared at him. Really? Tony was the one who should be worried about getting hurt. 

“You are okay, kiddo?”

“Once a building fell on me and you’re asking if I’m okay after hitting a sign?”

“Don’t mention that building incident. It freaks me out,” Tony said, his eyes wide. “And you didn’t say if you were okay.” 

“I’m fine.” It was a good thing that Peter hadn’t mentioned how he had gotten hit by a train in Europe. Tony would freak out about that. It wouldn’t be pretty. 

Maybe there was a way that Peter could make sure that Tony never found out about that, but he doubted it. Happy knew and he was bound to tell Tony.

Perhaps it would be better if Peter just told Tony himself. Maybe even now, but he couldn’t get the words out. There was still so much that happened in Europe that Tony didn’t know about. 

The most horrifying thing was happened with EDITH. Giving it to Beck… Tony would be furious. He wouldn’t be saying things about how he was like a son to him. 

“You okay, kid? You look pale.” 

“I’m… I’m fine.” Peter dug his nails into his skin. Once again, he tried to say something about Europe, and he failed. The words were caught in his throat, refusing to come out. 

“You sure?” Tony asked. 

“Yeah, I’m positive.” 

“Great. Let’s go to the Tower now. We got a lot to do,” Tony said with a sigh. He obviously didn’t believe him. 

All Peter could do was nod.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! Please, please, please, comment!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably should have waited to post this chapter since I'm posting them so fast. Did I? Nope!

Tony really didn’t care about the car apparently. He acted like nothing had happened when they were in the lab, and even said something about how when he was Peter’s age he was much worse and it had only been an accident.

“You got mad at me that time I got drunk though and you did worse things than that too,” Peter said. He could still remember how horrible he felt that day after the night or rather the day after. He really thought Tony wouldn’t want anything to do with him anymore.

“You purposely got drunk and I felt bad for being so hard on you then too,” Tony said, shrugging. “And I doubt you’re going to become addicted to getting into car wrecks. Never heard of a support group for people addicted to car wrecks.” 

“I’m still—“

“Sorry. I know. Now let’s move on.” 

And so the rest of the day, Peter did his best not to talk about it, even though he wanted to apologize again and again, despite that Tony didn’t seem angry. 

The rest of the evening was uneventful and fun when Peter could stop worrying about the wreck. They worked in his lab and even did some changes to some of Peter’s Spider-Man suits.

“So in a couple Fridays we’re going to have the press conference and then a party to celebrate my grand return. You need to be there. Parties used to be my thing.” A party? Peter had heard all about the ones Tony used to have. “I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not like those crazy parties from my youth. You can bring your friends too. MJ and Fred. Not Speedo though.” 

“Speedo isn’t my friend,” Peter said. “Not that his name is Speedo. And you know Ned’s name.” 

Tony grinned and shrugged. “Bring MJ and Ned.” 

“Okay, I’ll see if they want to go.” Ned would be excited for it and MJ wouldn’t admit it but she’d probably want to go too. She thought Pepper was amazing. 

“You can bring May too but not Eddie because I decided I don’t like him,” Tony said as if it was nothing. “Well unless you want him to come.” 

He definitely didn’t. 

It was pretty late when Peter finally went home. Eddie glared at him when he got there but he didn’t say anything. Maybe May had told him Peter should be allowed to be out as long as he wanted as long as he was at Tony’s, or maybe Eddie was still processing the whole Tony Stark thing. 

Either way it was fine with him. 

Especially when Eddie ended up ignoring him pretty much all the next week. Yes, sometimes he would talk to him, and a few times was even nice and asked about how Peter’s school was going, but something was clearly off. He never said anything about Tony and how he had met him either. It was as if it had never happened. 

MJ and Ned had both agreed to go to the party. Ned had more like screamed he would go and then kept talking about all the Avengers who might show up. MJ had been much cooler about it. 

“Tony really wants to meet the two of you,” Peter said during lunch on Wednesday. He especially wanted to meet MJ. “I’m scared he’s going to make up some horrible embarrassing stories.”

“Now it sounds even better,” MJ said, grinning. 

Peter just rubbed the back of his neck and his cheeks warmed up. At least Tony didn’t seem to know that story about him in Germany.

“Tony said he’d introduce you to Pepper too,” Peter said to MJ. 

“Are you going to introduce me to Thor?” Ned asked. 

“I don’t know Thor.” That wasn’t completely true but he had only really seen him during the battle and at the funeral. 

Even though Tony was alive now. It still hurt to think about the funeral.

“Dude! That’s… he’s still going to be there.”

Peter shrugged. “If he is then I’ll have Tony introduce you.”

He wanted to talk more with Thor too, but he was worried he’d look too much like a fanboy. He was a fanboy but not like he used to be. Plus, he wanted the other Avengers to think he was cool.

“Dude, you’re the best.” Ned grinned. “Can I bring Betty?”

“But the two of you will probably be broken up again by the conference,” MJ said without any emotion.

Ned sighed and shook his head. 

“I don’t know,” Peter said. There would be people there who didn’t know he was Spider-Man but there would also be a lot who did know. “Probably not a good idea this time.”

“Fine, but I want to bring her eventually, dude.” 

Peter nodded, but he wasn’t sure when there would be another party like this. It wasn’t going to be exactly how Ned probably thought it would be too. Tony said it wasn’t going to be like one of those wild parties that he used to have. 

“Okay. I doubt we’ll get to do much anyway, besides just talk to people and watch Morgan.”

“Morgan is adorable,” Ned said. He had a big extended family so he was good with kids.

MJ wasn’t as big of a fan of kids but she also nodded though she hesitated.

“But it’ll be fun. I can give you a tour of the Tower,” Peter said. “It’s amazing.” 

The Compound had been better, but that was long gone after the battle with Thanos.

“Awesome, dude,” Ned said. 

Maybe Peter should ask Tony if Betty could come. Peter wanted to show MJ to the roof. It had an amazing view and was romantic. He wanted to show her that. 

But he didn’t want to abandon Ned either. 

The next couple weeks went by slowly. Mostly because of his time at home and how awkward it was. At least May was happy. Sometimes when Peter was in his room, he could hear the two of them laughing, especially Eddie. 

On the day of the press conference, Peter woke up early, much earlier than he normally would have. For about thirty minutes, he tried to go back to sleep, but no matter how much he tossed and turned it didn’t make a difference. 

Then he decided he could go patrolling. He didn’t usually go this early, but it would be different. New experience. He would have to be extra careful when he came back since it would be light out, but Eddie would be at work so at least he didn’t have to worry about that. 

So he decided to do that. It was fun and different, but not eventful at all at first. At least not until he went near one of the train stations and had to save a little girl from almost getting hit by it.

Normally it would have been easy but now… it just reminded Peter of what it had been like when he was in Europe and had gotten hit by that train. The pain and the crushing bones.

He had barely gotten on the train. Barely saved himself from death. 

It was hard to breathe. He had to tell himself to keep taking deep breaths and to concentrate on being Spider-Man. He was going to be okay. He wasn’t in Europe. Things were going to be fine.

“Thank you so much,” the girl’s older sister said. 

“You’re welcome. It’s not a problem,” Peter said but he was digging his nails into his skin. He wanted this interaction to be over. No, he needed it to be. “Just be careful next time.” 

She nodded and the little girl hugged him. He returned her hug but then hurried away. It was hard to breathe. That girl… if he hadn’t been there then she would have been hit.

She would have been hit and she would have died.

She would have felt the same pain he had. The crushing bones. Death nearing. The world trying to fade away. Peter closed his eyes and he could feel it again. Crushing. The metallic taste of blood in his mouth. 

He couldn’t take it. 

He used his webs to get on a roof. He needed to breathe. He needed to get away. It was so loud in the city. Why was it suddenly so loud?

Karen tried to talk to him, but he told her to stop. No, that wasn’t right. 

“Just stop it! Stop it!” he yelled hard enough to hurt his throat. 

He didn’t want to hear anything now. He wanted silence. She actually listened. Even now he hoped that she wouldn’t tell Tony. 

But right now… right now he couldn’t think too much about that. He had to concentrate on breathing. In and out.

He laid on the roof for… he didn’t know how long. Just staring at the clouds. That train incident… was this going to be just like with the building?

No… he already knew that it would be. He had nightmares about that too. 

But mostly about seeing Tony’s grave and him snapping. In the dreams, Tony didn’t come back to life.

He died. 

He tried to steady his breathing, but he couldn’t. He just… 

Someone tried to talk to him through his Spider-Man outfit, but he pulled off his mask and tossed it to the side. No, right now, just no. 

He closed his eyes again.

And then his cell phone rang. And rang again. And again. Again. 

Peter groaned and answered it. 

“Hmmm?”

“Underoos, what’s going on? Karen says your heart rate increased and—“

“I’m fine,” Peter said, sitting up. “I’m good.”

“Somehow I doubt that, and you’re supposed to be at school right now. Not patrolling—“ 

“Be at school?” Peter looked at his phone and saw school had started over an hour ago. “Shit, you’re right.”

“Kid, I’m—“

“I’m sorry. I’ll go now.” Peter was such an idiot. He couldn’t always be freaked out by trains. He was a superhero. He shouldn’t be scared of something that was so normal.

“I don’t care about that. You’re—“ 

Peter frowned and grabbed his mask. “I’m fine. I’m going to home grab my stuff and get to school.” There was a long silence. “Seriously, I’m okay.” 

“I can come there and pick you up. Or I can send Happy to come get you,” Tony said. 

It was almost tempting but Peter shook his head. “No, I’m fine, really.”

“Happy should come get you.”

“But I—“

“Nope, besides I think Happy misses you.” 

Peter rolled his eyes. “Great. Can’t you just have him pick me up at my place instead? It won’t take me long to get home.” 

There was a long pause. 

“I’m seriously fine, Tony. It was just…” he could tell him what happened, but then he’d have to explain the train thing. “You can have Happy pick me up at home and he can drop me off at school.”

“Sounds good,” Tony said.

Luckily, he didn’t say anything else. 

Peter groaned and headed home. His head was pounding now but he ignored it. The train… how could it shake him up so much? 

When he got to the alley near his house, he changed into his regular clothes, since he didn’t want his whole apartment building to know he was Spider-Man. 

He just needed to grab his backpack upstairs. It wouldn’t take that long for Happy to get here. 

Peter opened the door to his apartment. It was silent. Not surprising since May would be at work. Eddie would be too. 

But then he heard a creek in the other room. Like someone walking. He wouldn’t have heard it if not for his spidey sense. He froze.

Damn it. 

“May?” Peter asked hopefully. 

But, of course, Parker luck didn’t allow that. Eddie walked into the room. Peter clenched his fists together.

“What are you doing here?” Eddie asked, glaring at him. “You’re supposed to be in school.”

Peter could lie and say he was sick, but he was planning to go there. He had a big test. Even if he didn’t, the thought of staying here with Eddie caused his skin to crawl.

“I have a free period,” Peter said. “You know since I’m a senior. Easier year.”

Total lie. His classes were just as difficult as they had been the previous year. He couldn’t slack if he wanted to get into a good college. 

“Really, then why is your backpack here?” Eddie threw it at Peter’s face, but it was easy for him to catch it despite the force. “Free period my ass.”

“I went to my first class without it,” Peter said, throwing the backpack on. He had what he wanted and now he needed to get out of here. “And that’s why I came back during my free period.” 

“I don’t believe you.”

Peter froze. Normally he would try and be polite. He would be nice and kind like always but right now… Eddie was weird. And he needed to understand that he wasn’t Peter’s father.

Tony might not technically be, but that didn’t matter. Peter would never have that kind of connection with Eddie. 

And that was that. 

“I’m not your son and you don’t have to pretend like I am. I have father like figures.” He rose an eyebrow. Maybe this would get Eddie to let it go. 

“Who? Tony Stark?” Eddie laughed. “There is no way that someone like him cares about you.” 

“You don’t know anything about me,” Peter spat out.

Any hopes of that making Eddie leave him alone went away. Peter clenched his fists even tighter than before.

“I know that you’re not brilliant or anything like Stark seems to believe,” Eddie said. “I don’t know why he thinks you’re so great, but I have my suspicions.”

“And what are those?” Peter asked. He was digging his nails deep enough in his skin that there was warm liquid under his nails. He didn’t care that he was bleeding.

His phone vibrated. He ignored it. 

It was probably Happy. He was probably already here.

“Oh, I think you know.”

“No, I don’t. Tony likes having me around. He says I’m like a son to him.” Maybe he suspected Peter was Spider-Man, but this conversation would probably be going a lot different if that was the case. 

Maybe he would have left him alone if he knew the truth. Or maybe he would have told everyone who he was and ruined him. Yes, one day Peter did plan to tell the public that he was Spider-Man, but he wanted to wait until after he had graduated from college. 

Right now he wanted to have as close to a normal life as possible, even if that was hard with him being Spider-Man.

“I’m sure Tony does like having you around, but it has nothing to do with you being like a son to him. I’ve heard about Tony Stark’s wild past. Wouldn’t be surprised if he hadn’t put all that behind him and you’re…” He shrugged. “I suppose some might think you are cute and so--”

“Shut up!” Peter almost yelled. Eddie flinched. Good. How dare he say something like that? Yes, people had before, but he hated it. It was disgusting and wrong. “We don’t do anything like that. He would never do that to me. He’s really just like a dad to me.” 

“You don’t tell me to shut up.”

Peter thought about telling him to fuck off. He really did. It would be amazing seeing his face. He would be shocked, and it was so different than how Peter always was. 

Instead he just remained quiet.

“You’re not going to go to that party Stark is throwing. You’re done hanging out with him. I know May thinks he’s good for you, but it’s clear he’s not.”

Peter looked at him and then he laughed. It was obviously the wrong thing to do, but he wasn’t about stop working with Tony just because something Eddie said, even if he was dating his aunt. May might eventually get tired of him. 

“You need to respect me.” 

“I have to go to school,” Peter said, and he thought that would be it. Eddie would obviously be pissed and maybe he would complain about him to May, but Peter could talk to her too. 

It was just she liked being around him.

But that wasn’t it for Eddie. 

He punched him in the arm. It hurt. Peter stumbled back, shocked. Had he really just done that? He had taken worse hits, but still. He should have been able to stop it. His spidey sense had gone off this whole talk, but he was used to it going off with Eddie. 

He thought it was nothing. 

He tried to hit him again, but Peter stopped him. He grabbed his arm and lightly pushed him away.

“You… You don’t do that!” Peter said. Eddie was lucky. He was lucky that Peter was who he was. He had super strength. He could make him regret it, but he wouldn’t hurt him. He wasn’t that kind of person. “I’m not… You can’t do that to me.” 

Eddie’s eyes widened and he was now taking a step back, looking almost more horrified than Peter felt. How could this asshole actually hit him? What would May think if she knew? There was no way she would approve this.

“You can’t tell anyone about this. Not May and not Tony Stark. He’s Iron Man, you know?” Eddie said. “I’m dating your aunt so you have to listen to me. You’re just a stupid kid.” 

Peter opened his mouth to answer, but he didn’t get the chance to tell him that he couldn’t tell him what to do. 

“He’s Iron Man! He’ll kill me, especially if he does think you’re his son. It was a mistake. I’m not the kind of person who hurts people.” Eddie put his hands in front of him. “I’m not!” 

Really, because he had just done it. And he had hit him hard. It still hurt now. It was going to bruise. Eddie should be glad that Peter wasn’t fighting back. He could hurt him a lot worse. 

It was just… he couldn’t do that. What if he messed up and hurt him too much? Eddie was a normal person and Peter wasn’t. And May liked Eddie. He couldn’t let her down.

“And May… I love her.” Eddie said. “She’s--”

“I have to go,” Peter said. 

“You can’t tell them. If you do, then I’ll make you regret it,” Eddie said. “You’ll wish that you kept your mouth closed if you don’t. I’m not going to lose what I have.” 

Peter stared at him. “I won’t tell Tony, so don’t worry, he won’t murder you.” Peter didn’t wait for him to answer and took a few more steps toward the door.

He wouldn’t tell Tony, but May… well… he needed to talk to May, even if he didn’t tell her exactly what happened. He had to make sure that Eddie wasn’t hurting her. 

Peter was strong and could take things like this, but May didn’t have super powers. And she just deserved better.

“It’s not my fault what happened. It’s yours,” Eddie said. 

Peter tried to say that it wasn’t. After all, it wasn’t like he had hurt him. 

“You were supposed to be in school. I was just trying to get you to be a better kid. You’re spoiled rotten. You’re taking advantage of—“ Eddie didn’t get to finish because there was a knock on the door. It echoed through the otherwise silent room. Silence once again took over and Peter could even hear Eddie’s breathing and then the hum of the fridge. 

Then the knock sounded again.

“Pete? Kid?” Happy called from the other side.

“I have to go,” Peter said, and he quickly hurried out the apartment, almost colliding with Happy. He slammed the door behind him. Not wanting Happy to see Eddie. That whole conversation…

Eddie was already crazy enough. The last thing Peter wanted was for him to speak to someone that May had dated. 

Peter could handle Eddie being angry with him, but if Eddie got mad at May… Peter couldn’t let that happen. 

“You okay?” Happy said, giving him a look. 

“Yeah, yeah, fine.” Peter just wanted to leave so he took off toward the stairs. Happy sighed behind him but followed.

Happy had parked his car in the old spot which he used to park in, which was good because Peter didn’t want to look for it. He just wanted to leave. Normally he would talk to Happy and tell him everything that was going on, but right now he wanted silence and to be alone with his thoughts. 

But of course, nothing could that be easy because Tony just had to be in the car too. Peter groaned, feeling guilty as he did, because he should just be grateful that he was alive. 

And he was. More than anything.

“I’m sorry. I’m--!”

Tony laughed. “It’s okay.”

Happy got in and looked at them. “Something’s up with the kid.” 

“Yeah, he wasn’t happy to see me.” 

Great… “I just don’t feel like talking today,” Peter muttered. 

Tony did a fake gasp and looked at Happy. “The world is ending.” 

Happy just rolled his eyes. “If the kid doesn’t want to talk, then you should respect that.”

Tony gave him a horrible look. “I just want to know what’s happening. He’s upset.”

Peter looked out the window as Happy started driving. “Nothing happened,” he muttered.

“Friday told me Karen informed her that your heart rate was—“

“I stopped someone from getting hit by a train,” Peter said, glancing at Happy for a moment before looking out the window again.

“I’m sorry,” Happy said.

“You’re sorry? I don’t get it. You said you succeeded.” There was a long silence. Part of Peter wanted to see Tony’s face, but at the same time he just… couldn’t. “You two aren’t telling me something. What happened? I’m missing a big part of the story of Peter Parker.”

Happy stayed quiet.

“Really you two are keeping secrets from me? You didn’t even used to like Peter, Happy. You were always complaining about the messages and texts he left you.”

“I’ve always liked Peter,” Happy said. “I just—“

“I got hit by a train. In Europe,” Peter said, not letting Happy finish. He still didn’t look at anyone and just stared at people outside the window. 

“What?!” Tony asked, his voice raising. 

“Beck pushed him. Basically,” Happy said. 

“What the fuck?! Underoos got hit by a train. He could have died!” Tony put his arm on Peter’s shoulder but Peter didn’t turn to face him. He couldn’t. “That asshole. If he wasn’t dead, I’d kill him. I’d… He should be grateful he’s dead. Peter’s just a kid. How dare he?!” 

There was another silence. 

“What happened? How did he do that to you?” Tony asked, his voice raising. Was he going to have an anxiety attack? Peter didn’t want to be the reason Tony had one of those. It had been a mistake to tell him this. “What happened? I need to know exactly what happened to you.” 

Peter chewed his lip. “It’s my fault.” 

“It’s not your fault,” Happy said. “He—“

“Happy’s right. Not your fault. He hurt you. You could have been killed. I always knew that he was a horrible person. I just didn’t think he would do something like this. You’re innocent.” 

“No, it was my fault. I made a horrible mistake.” Peter finally looked away from the window but still not at Happy or Tony.

“And what was that?”

The tension in the air could be cut with a knife.

“I gave him EDITH.”

And there it was.

The silence went on for an eternity and yet not long enough at the same time. The rain pounded at the roof of the car and the radio hummed a song, but it didn’t matter.

“What?” Tony whispered. It was hard for even Peter to hear him, and he had better hearing than normal people. “But I gave you that. To protect and help you and because…”

“I knew that I wasn’t good enough,” Peter muttered, and he still wasn’t really. He was upset about getting hit by a train and was having trouble dealing with his aunt’s boyfriend.

But he would deal with the later. He had to.

“Peter…”

Peter’s eyes were burning. He swiped at them. He couldn’t cry. He wouldn’t. Not now.

“And he reminded me of you. He was good and so put together and not a mess. And I missed you so much and Fury was pissed at me and everyone was asking me if I was going to be the next Iron Man. I knew I couldn’t do it. I’m not you. I’ll never be you. I was just a random kid who got bit by a spider.” 

“Kid…” Tony pulled him into a hug. “You don’t have to be Iron Man. I don’t expect you to be. I said to the next Tony Stark. Kid, I didn’t want to overwhelm you or anything. And you’re more than just someone who got bit by a spider.”

Peter pressed his face against his shoulder. He didn’t want to cry. He was supposed to be strong. He was Spider-Man, but he couldn’t help it. The tears managed to escape. 

“I’m sorry,” Peter muttered. “I fucked up. People died in London because of me.” 

Tony ran his hand through his hair for a moment. “No that’s Beck’s fault.”

“I really thought I could trust him.” Peter finally pulled away and wiped at his eyes. “I’m such an idiot.”

“No, you’re not.” 

“It’s partially Fury’s fault,” Happy finally said. “He’s—“

“A complete asshole who is uninvited to my party,” Tony said.

“Good. Fury’s…” Happy didn’t finish his sentence. 

“It’s not his fault. I gave the glasses to Beck. Not Fury. I’m sorry, Tony. You gave me them and I messed up like always.” 

“It’s okay, kid. It’s really going to be okay,” Tony sighed and ran a hand through his own hair. “I should have been there. I should have.”

“You were in a coma,” Peter said. “And I’m old enough to take care of myself.” 

“Kid, it doesn’t matter how old you are. People always make mistakes.” He sighed. “I just can’t believe you got hit by a train. If Beck was alive, well… he’d regret what he did.”

“I’m just sorry… I let you down. I let everyone down.” 

“Kid, you didn’t let me down. And I’m the one who made a mistake. Maybe it would have been better if I had waited until were eighteen to have you get it.”

Peter cringed. 

“What?” Tony asked.

“Fury said he didn’t think I was ready.” So obviously he hadn’t been.

He groaned. “I just meant maybe it would be less stressful for you.”

Peter shrugged.

“Kid, I don’t regret giving it to you,” Tony said. “I’ve known I’d eventually give it to you since before Thanos.” 

“Fury’s an ass,” Happy said. “And I told you before Tony didn’t regret trusting you at all.”

“Yeah, I didn’t and still don’t. Don’t listen to Fury,” Tony said. 

“I… fine,” Peter said, shrugging. “Fine.” 

“Good,” Tony said but his frown deepened. “Is there anything else wrong?”

For a moment, Peter thought about telling him what happened. It wouldn’t be easy but he could do it. Then he might not never have to deal with Eddie because Happy and Tony would both freak out, especially Tony who was will Tony.

But he could handle this himself. He would talk to May.

“No, that’s all.”

And they even seemed to believe him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment! Also if you want, you can find me on tumblr. I'm RedfieldFamilyFan24


	9. Worthy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a few days longer than I planned. I apologize for any typos.

“I want to be with Peter,” Morgan said as she took Peter’s hand in hers. The two of them were waiting for the conference to begin. Even though Morgan wasn’t going to be there during the actual conference, she was wearing a dark purple dress and a bow in her hair for the party.

“But don’t you want to be with me after this boring press conference? Wouldn’t you rather hang out with me?” Tony asked, smiling slightly as he picked up Morgan. He probably knew there was no way that Morgan would want to go to that. “Or maybe with your mom.” 

“Want to be with Underoos,” Morgan said, looking at Peter.

Underoos? Morgan was now calling him that? 

“Little Miss, that’s my special name for Peter,” Tony said. “You don’t want to make him jealous.”

“Jealous? Really?” Peter asked. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

But really he didn’t mind being called that. He didn’t mind any of Tony’s nicknames for him. Tony always gave people nicknames.

Tony opened his mouth as if he was going to reply, but then Pepper came in with Happy, Rhodey, and Captain America for some reason.

Mr. Rogers must not have seen Tony in person yet, despite how they had played Fortnite together, because he hurried over to Tony and hugged him. Tony barely had time to pass Peter Morgan.

Morgan grinned.

Tony awkwardly hugged him back. 

“I’m glad you’re okay, Tony,” Steve said. “I thought that you…”

“Died? Yes, everyone did.” Tony pulled away. “I’m actually glad you’re going to be here for the party.” 

“Everyone?” Peter asked. He had mostly hung out with Morgan after school. Pepper and Tony had asked him to watch her while they got ready.

Morgan was obsessed with Frozen again so they had been watching it. She knew the words to every song and even though she was the most adorable girl ever, she didn’t have a great singing voice.

Not that Peter would ever say that. 

“Well only reporters and my closest friends. You know the people I told I was still alive.” 

Steve beamed for a moment, but then covered it with his hand. 

“Don’t get excited, Steve,” Pepper said. “His closest friends includes pretty much everyone. He told his Uber Eats driver he was alive and invited him.” 

“Hey that’s not fair, Pep,” Tony said, putting his hand on his heart. “Jerry has always been my favorite Uber Eats driver. He missed me!” 

Pepper rolled her eyes. “He could have told the press prematurely.”

“Jerry wouldn’t do such a thing,” Tony said. “And he’s coming to the party later.”

“Hopefully this party won’t end up like your birthday party all those years ago,” Rhodey said. “I don’t want to have to…” he looked at Morgan. “Don’t want to have to clean up after your mess.”

“Daddy made a mess?” Morgan asked wiggling away from Peter. 

“Yes, I remember that,” Pepper said. “It was a horrible, horrible mess.” 

Peter did end up watching Morgan during the conference when the adults left. She made him watch even more Frozen which was fine. 

Eventually Mr. Rogers also came in.

“Where’s Mommy at?” Morgan said jumping off the couch and into Steve’s arms. He smiled at her.

“She and your dad are still at the conference,” Steve said.

Peter could only image how much the media was freaking out about this. Tony seemed to think he would be free after the conference but if anything he wouldn’t be because of the paparazzi. 

“I’m bored,” Morgan said. “Cappy, I want to play with your shield.” 

“Why?” Steve asked as Morgan jumped away from him and over to the couch which she leaped on.

“Want to ride it down the stairs!”

“That’s…” Actually it sounded fun but obviously Peter couldn’t say that. “That sounds dangerous.” 

“Yes, I don’t want you to get hurt,” Steve said.

“Daddy always said you weren’t fun,” Morgan said to Cap. Peter tried not to laugh but then she glared at him too. 

“I…” Steve tried to say.

“Let’s do web slinging!” Morgan said. “We can fly through the city.” 

Peter wished that he could show Morgan how amazing that was. He knew that she would like it. It was amazing the feeling of falling through the air. It was better than any roller coaster.

But Tony and Pepper wouldn’t let him just take Morgan out to do that. Pepper would be worried that it was dangerous. 

“Absolutely not,” Steve said. “I’m glad I came here because the two of you would do something you’re not supposed to.”

“Boo!” Morgan said and she jumped at Peter and managed to whack him exactly where Eddie hit him. 

Peter couldn’t help but wince, but he didn’t drop Morgan.

“Petey?” Morgan asked.

“Did you get hurt on patrol?” Steve asked.

Peter hadn’t had an excuse lined up if something like this happened but that was the obvious one. “Yeah, but I’m fine. Someone just punched me.”

Steve sighed and shook his head. “I can’t believe someone would hurt a kid.”

“They… they didn’t know I was a kid,” Peter lied his voice breaking. He didn’t want to have this discussion with Captain America who probably thought he was too young to even be a superhero. 

The last thing he wanted to have to do was defend why he did this right now.

Morgan presses her face against his shoulder which caused him to wince again.

“It’s just… it’s dangerous,” Steve said, shaking his head.

“Says the person who dropped a jet bridge on him,” Tony who was now standing in front of the door frame said. He had his arm around Pepper’s waist and was grinning. 

“I didn’t know he was a kid!”

“How was the press conference?” Peter asked.

“Great.”

“Great? The media is going to go crazy.” 

“You’re great at managing them, Pep. You’re great at most things.”

“I suppose I’ll manage,” Pepper said. 

“Yes, you always do. Now it’s time to get ready for the party.” He looked at Peter. “You’re still wearing your school clothes.”

“Uh yeah.” The last thing Peter had wanted to do after Eddie struck him was get more proper clothes. “I… I can go get something else at home…”

Tony slung his arm over Peter’s shoulder. “Kid, I have things you can wear here that will be exactly in your size. Or you can just wear this. I doubt Thor’s going to show up in formal wear.”

Peter smiled up at him. 

“You’re getting taller actually, Spiderling. You might be able to fit in some of my suits.”

“What? Really?” He couldn’t believe that Tony would even let him wear any of his suits. His were expensive and well… his… Peter was a random orphan.

“Yeah, kids grow, Underoos. Not that crazy.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Peter said. “I don’t wasn’t to mess up one of them.”

“Don’t worry about that. I have more money than I need.”

“Wear Daddy’s suits. Then you can be pretty like me.” Morgan grinned. She grabbed his hand.

He couldn’t help but nod even though he was still worried he would do something to ruin the suit. Also when he was trying them on, he had to make sure that Tony didn’t find out about the bruise because he could actually watch the recording from his patrol. 

But he managed. After Morgan made him wear a tie that matched her dress. 

The party wasn’t wild like Peter had been worried about. There were a ton of people here and Peter was introduced to many of them. He actually met Thor who had been amazing. Even Captain Marvel was here, despite that she was often busy being off world. 

But despite how everyone was here, it was different than the parties he had heard about in the magazines. There was no Tony getting so drunk that he got in a fight in his Iron Man suit with Rhodey. There was no tech being used during the party, although Thor was having people try and lift his hammer.

But even though Peter wanted to sneak away with MJ, it was like Morgan’s mission was to not allow that. It was almost as if someone had set her up to it. But it could have just been Morgan.

“No!” Morgan yelled when Peter tried to get her to see Uncle Rhodey. “I want you to play with me!”

“But Peter—“ MJ tried to say.

“No!” Morgan cried. “Want you to have Shirley Temples with me.” 

Peter exchanged looks with MJ who shrugged. 

“They’re the bestest. We can have juice pops too!” Morgan said. “You can have one too.” Morgan looked at MJ who nodded. 

They followed Morgan, but they didn’t get to the juice pops or Shirley Temples when Thor came over, grinning at them. 

“Thor!” Morgan said, grinning. She jumped into his arms. “I’m gonna get juice pops.” 

“Daughter of Man of Iron, those sound delicious.” 

“They are!” Morgan said. “The best! I’ll get you orange.” 

And with that she jumped out of his arms and ran off to fetch him one. Peter was about to follow her when Thor put an arm on his shoulder. 

“Man of Spiders, I’ve been searching for you,” Thor said. “I’ve been having people attempt to pick up Mjolnir and now it has come time for you to attempt to.” 

“I… I don’t know,” Peter said, running a hand through his curls. There was no way that he was going to be able to pick that up. 

“Oh come on, nerd,” MJ said, lightly punching his shoulder. “You should try. Otherwise I’m going to and well… I’m probably worthy. I might try anyway.” 

Peter wouldn’t be surprised if she was. It would be amazing if MJ was.

“Come on, try it,” MJ said again when he didn’t say anything. 

“Yes, Boy of Spiders, it’s worth an attempt.”

Now he was Boy of Spiders instead of Man of Spiders? 

“Okay, I guess,” Peter said as Morgan came back with juice pops and gave them each one. His was grape. “But I’m not going to be able to pick it up.”

“Can’t like no one except Thor?” MJ asked. 

“And Captain America,” Peter said. 

“And Vision,” Thor said. “I suspect that Lady Jane could have wielded it as well.” 

Jane Foster… Peter knew about her for many reasons. She was one of the world’s best astrophysicists and had done amazing things. Plus, obviously she had dated Thor for awhile, even if it hadn’t worked out between the two of them. 

“I can try.” Peter shrugged his shoulders.

This caused both MJ and Thor to grin at each other. And with that Peter followed them over to where the hammer was sitting on the floor. Tony was sitting on a nearby couch but grinned and stood up when Peter came over. 

“Good, Underoos. We need someone completely Team Stark to lift the hammer,” Tony said. “I think Cap is letting it get to his head that he can lift it.” 

Cap who was also on the couch rolled his eyes at this comment but remained quiet. 

“I doubt I’ll be able to pick it up,” Peter said as he went over to it. Even just by looking at Mjolnir, it was obvious that it was special. 

Tony shrugged. “Well, if Capsicle can, then it shouldn’t be that hard.” 

“You can’t pick it up.” Steve didn’t even blink when he made that comment.

Tony shrugged yet again. “Well I used to not be able to, but now that I’ve saved the world yet again, that could be different.” 

“Man of Iron, you can attempt to lift Mjolnir again,” Thor said. 

“Nah,” Tony said as he went back over to the couch and sat next to Steve. “I’d rather see if my mentee can do it. You know it’s what every mentor wants, to see their protégé surpassing them or something.” 

Thor smiled and pushed Peter toward the hammer. This was… maybe it wouldn’t be that embarrassing since pretty much no one here could pick it up. He would just be like everyone else. 

But then he went over and lifted it effortlessly. Eyes were on him. He could feel it. This… it shouldn’t have been possible. It had been easy. Now around him, it was quiet. 

Peter let out a laugh. “Where’s the real one?” Still no one said anything. “I mean it, where is the real one?” Because there was no way this was actually Mjolnir.

And that was when Thor laughed and put his arm around his shoulder and Tony grinned. 

“Man of Spiders, that is the real one.” 

“But I…” Peter tried to say. He was still holding Mjolnir, which seemed pretty light.

“Always knew you would be worthy,” Tony was still grinning. “I always knew that you were special.” 

“Yeah, that’s really impressive, nerd,” MJ said, trying to hide a smile, but she wasn’t doing a good job of it. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The party was even more fun after that. There were times when Peter could actually forget what had happened earlier with Eddie. He was getting to spend more time with the Avengers, who had been his heroes when he had been growing up. Also he got to be around MJ more, and everyone here seemed to like her. 

It was great.

But then May rushed over and hugged him. “Baby, I heard what happened.”

Peter froze in her arms. How could she know what Eddie had done? How could she? Eddie wouldn’t have told her, and Peter wasn’t ready today. Yes, he was going to talk to her, but not today. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he would tell her.

At least most of what happened. 

Had Eddie actually told her the truth? No, there was no way that he would have done something like that. Not when he had ordered Peter not to. Peter had saw the fear in his eyes.

“You can pick up Thor’s Hammer. I’m not surprised at all,” May said as she let go of him and then touched one of the curls on his head. “You’ve always been so good.” 

Peter wasn’t sure about that, but he forced himself to smile. Being around her… he was going to have to tell her the truth very soon.

“I need to tell you something tomorrow,” Peter said. “Something really important.” 

He had already asked Tony if he could just stay here tonight and he was fine with it. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea, but Eddie was supposed to be gone with friends tonight and he wouldn’t hit May, right? If he did, Peter would never ever forgive himself or Eddie, but mostly himself. 

“Is everything okay?” May asked. 

Was everything okay? No. Still he forced himself to smile. “Yeah, everything is great. I just have to talk to you about something tomorrow. Something important.” 

She frowned. “Are you sure you don’t want to--”

“No, and don’t worry about it,” Peter said, forcing himself to smile, despite the twisting in his stomach. “And just… can you not tell anyone about this?” 

He was sure that May would have a ton of questions when he said that and they would be hard for him to answer, but instead she nodded. 

“Okay, baby,” May said. “You know I larb you very much.” 

Peter nodded and forced himself to smile. “I larb you too, Aunt May.” 

And he did and that was why he had to tell her. So he could protect her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment! Feel free to follow me on Tumblr too. I'm RedfieldFamilyFan24. Thank you so much for reading and commenting!!!


	10. A Talk

The rest of the party was fun, but he couldn’t get any time alone with MJ. Eventually when it was past three, lots of people were leaving. Morgan had gone to sleep hours ago, and now maybe he would soon get the chance to actually show MJ to the roof. They could look at the New York skyline.

But then someone put their arm on his shoulder. 

Peter spun around. 

“You’re still awake, Underoos. You should have gone to bed when Morgan did,” Tony said. He was sipping a Coke. 

“I’m…” Peter stopped because then Tony would just say something about how he knew his age. “I’m old enough to stay up.” 

“Don’t think so. Time for MJ to go home too,” Tony said, glancing over at her. “You’re… pretty scary actually, but I like you. You seem good for Underoos here.” 

MJ smirked, but nodded. 

“Can’t MJ stay the night?” Peter asked. 

Tony looked at him and then laughed as he moved his hand away. “I don’t think May would like that. She probably wouldn’t want there to be any more baby spiders. You’re enough.”

MJ rolled her eyes.

Peter glared at him. “We weren’t going to do that. I didn’t even say that we were going to sleep in the same room.” MJ wouldn’t have wanted to do that yet anyway. They had only been dating a couple months and weren’t at that stage yet. 

“Yeah, I remember what it’s like being a teenager… Well sort of… I was pretty drunk then,” Tony said. “But I do remember some things, and you could just sneak to her room. The whole sticking to walls would make it even easier.”

“I told my mom I would come home anyway,” MJ said. 

“Yes, you heard the girl,” Tony said. “I’ll make Happy give her a ride home.” 

Happy wasn’t going to like that, but at least he was one of the few people who hadn’t been drinking. Peter had caught him looking at May a few times and sighing. Peter couldn’t help but wish that Happy and May had stayed together. He liked Happy. 

“He can give Ned a ride home too.” 

Ned had been talking to Scott Lang for awhile, which Peter thought was weird, but it was good at the same time. 

“Okay,” MJ said. She leaned over and kissed Peter on the lips for a moment before pulling away “I’ll see you later.” 

Peter smiled and then hugged her before she broke away. He also said goodbye to Ned before heading to his room at the Tower. Today had been… something… The morning… He wasn’t looking forward to it and wished the morning would never come.

But, of course, it did like always. He would have slept longer, but then someone was laughing and jumping on his bed. 

“Wake up, Petey! Wake up!” Morgan laughed as she kept jumping around. 

“Morgan, it’s…” He forced his eyes to open and saw the clock. “Seven AM.” It wasn’t normal to wake up this early on a day when there wasn’t school. 

“Daddy says I should wake up and you’ll play with me,” Morgan said as she continued jumping on the bed. Tony had told her this? He probably just wanted to keep sleeping in himself. “I want to have chocolate chip pancakes.” 

“I’m tired,” Peter said, grabbing one of his pillows and putting it over his head. “I’m tired, Morgan.” 

“No! Wake up!” 

Another pillow hit Peter and he forced himself to sit up. Morgan grinned and jumped around more. 

“Pancake time! Pancake time!” Morgan chanted. 

Peter groaned but forced himself to get up. The sun seemed especially bright today and he put on EDITH just for that reason. Morgan then raced out of the room and he followed her into one of the kitchens. There he somehow managed to find and make pancakes. He hesitated before adding chocolate chips, but Tony and Pepper should have been awake if they didn’t want him to give her those.

And besides Morgan wanted chocolate chip pancakes. 

After that, the two of them went to watch Frozen again. Peter couldn’t help but fall asleep before “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” played. It was like his eyes couldn’t stay open. Sleep wanted to claim him and he couldn’t resist it. 

When he woke up, nothing was playing on the TV. Even with his eyes closed, he could tell that someone had shut the windows and turned off the lights. In the background, he could hear people talking quietly but it wasn’t like before. There was a giggle. Morgan… It was Morgan. Footsteps came into the room, but Peter still didn’t open his eyes.

“You still sleeping, kid?” Tony asked in a whisper after awhile. 

“Mmm,” Peter muttered. 

Tony must have decided that was a yes because the footsteps started again and were leaving.

“Morgan woke me up at seven,” Peter muttered.

The footsteps stopped. “Yeah, sorry about that, kid, but you can sleep more if you want. I told May that you might stay here a bit longer. Spiderlings need their rest.”

Peter grabbed the blanket which hadn’t been on him when he fill asleep and pulled it over his head. “Have to talk to May,” he muttered. 

“She knows you’re here. Don’t worry. You won’t get in trouble.” The footsteps were leaving again. 

Peter forced himself to sit up. “No, I have to talk to her. It’s… It’s important.” Yes, there was a part of him that was tempted to put it off, but he couldn’t. If he kept doing that, then he might never tell May what happened. 

And if he didn’t tell her, he was putting her in danger. Eddie might hit her one day. She didn’t have the powers that he did. He could seriously hurt her. She at least needed to be aware of what he had done. 

Tony came over and sat next to him while giving him a look. “Everything okay, kiddo?” 

Peter rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, it’s just… I have to tell her something important.” 

“Really? You sure everything’s okay? You seemed off earlier yesterday.” 

“Because of the train.” Peter picked at a loose thread on the red blanket. 

“Maybe, but I think there’s more to it than that, and you know I’m pretty smart.” Tony grinned, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Probably because he was worried. “You know with the whole being a genius and all that.” 

Peter knew that he should tell Tony that he was fine. Tony might not believe him, but maybe, if Peter was lucky, he would drop it, at least for now. 

“I just… I just don’t know how she’s going to react.” Peter kept picking at the thread and didn’t even look at Tony, even when he had FRIDAY turn on the lights. “I just…” Peter shrugged his shoulders. 

“What’s going on?” Tony asked. “You’re freaking me out with this kind of talk? I can fix whatever problem you have. That’s what I do. Fix things.”

Peter shrugged. 

“You got me worried. Does this have to do with a Spider-Man thing? Because I might be retired, but if it means protecting you, I can suspend my retirement for a day.” 

“No, I’m fine,” Peter said. “I can handle this. It’s… Just stupid teenager things.” 

Tony was studying him so intensely that Peter cringed and pulled at the thread more. Finally he sighed. “Okay, Underoos, but if you need to talk to me, then I’ll be here. I’m sure that I could fix your problem.” 

Peter looked at him. It was almost tempting. Tony would be able to fix it. In a way. He also could overreact and make it worse, and Peter didn’t want Tony to know that something like this happened to him. He was Spider-Man and so he should be able to take care of himself. 

Peter didn’t stay much longer. He needed to get home after all and talk to May. When he was about to leave, Tony asked if he wanted a ride, but Peter really needed to think. He wasn’t even going to swing home. He planned to walk and take the subway. 

However, he had just gotten off the subway when a car pulled up in front of him. Instantly he recognized that it was Eddie’s Nissan Xterra. 

“We need to talk,” Eddie said after he had rolled the window down.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Peter muttered, pulling up the hood on his MIT sweater that Tony had given him. 

“Come on, Pete. Give me a break,” Eddie said. “I know you told your aunt you want to talk to her.” 

Peter shrugged.

“Please. Let me just explain,” Eddie said. “Don’t you ever want to have a second chance? Don’t you know what it’s like to make a horrible mistake?”

Peter froze. Obviously he did know what that was like. With Beck mostly. He had made a mistake by trusting him. 

And giving him EDITH. Maybe that proved he shouldn’t talk to Eddie either, especially when he had done what he had.

“Come on. I know your mentor had problems with his parents too. I’ve heard the stories about his dad.” Peter froze when Eddie mentioned this. Tony never talked about his parents, especially his dad, but the tabloids had probably had stories in the past. “I did too. Let me talk to you.”

Peter was going to regret this. He already knew that but he ignored common sense and spidey sense and climbed into the car. 

“We can only talk on the way back to the apartment,” Peter said as he shut the door. 

“Sure, thanks, Pete,” Eddie said with a sigh and he pulled away. “I’m sorry about what happened the other day.”

Peter stared at him. 

“I bought you something to make up for it,” Eddie said. “A couple things actually.”

Really? Like giving him gifts was going to make him forget what happened? He couldn’t be bought.

But sure enough when they were at a red light, Eddie grabbed some bags from the back seat and shoved them into Peter’s arms. 

“You didn’t have to get me anything,” Peter said. “I don’t want anything. You can’t…”

“Buy your love? Isn’t that what Tony Stark is doing with you?” 

With that, Peter almost got out of the car. Eddie should show some respect. Tony had saved the world. 

Then Eddie laughed. “It’s just a joke. I know that’s not what’s happening with you and Stark. I know he’s a great man and he’s lucky to have you as a mentee.”

Peter opened the bags. Inside was a Star Trek shirt and a gift card to the movies. “Thanks, but you didn’t have to get me anything.”

“I wanted to. I know you like nerdy things.”

Peter remained quiet.

“I want to talk to you. This… it’s hard to talk about,” Eddie sighed and turned off the radio so it was completely silent. Great. “Growing up, my father was harsh.”

Peter didn’t say anything and pretended to look at the Star Trek shirt. He preferred Star Wars. 

“He… he was…” Peter saw Eddie shake his head. “Well, he was more likely to turn violent than say anything good about me. I don’t want to be similar to him.”

There was no way that Peter could look at him after this confession.

“But I guess I am. I apologize. It’s not going to happen again. You just somehow made me so angry, but it won’t happen again.”

Peter sighed. He knew what it was like to make mistakes, but he wasn’t violent. And he would never have done something like this. But what if it had just been a mistake. A one time thing? 

And May loved him, right? Wasn’t it selfish of Peter to ruin this for her when she was happy? She had gone through a lot because of the blimp. Maybe if Peter had been better, he could have stopped Thanos from getting the time stone and from that even happening.

But he had failed. 

“I..” 

“Please, Peter.” 

There was a lump in Peter’s throat. Tony would tell Peter not to give Eddie a second chance. Peter’s spidey sense didn’t even seem to like the idea.

And yet…

“You better not ever do anything to hurt May,” Peter said. “If you do that then you’ll have to deal with me.” And since Eddie didn’t know he was Spider-Man, he realized he should add something else on that. “And Tony. I’ll tell him. He won’t like it. I’ll say you hurt me too.” 

Eddie paused and his eyes widened but then he nodded. “I’d never hurt your aunt. She’s a grown woman. Not a child.” 

So that made it okay for him to hit him? No, Peter was thinking too much into this. 

“I mean it, Peter. I won’t do anything to her. I love her.”

Peter nodded.

“You know, you really do look like Tony Stark. Are you sure he’s not your biological father? You’re the splitting image of him and everyone knows how wild he was in the early 2000s.”

Peter didn’t even say anything to that and just pulled the tag off the Star Trek shirt. 

“It wouldn’t surprise me if you were his. I doubt Tony Stark randomly mentors teenagers.”

It wasn’t random since he was Spider-Man, but Peter just shrugged. Maybe it would be better if Eddie did think he could actually be Tony’s son. He might think twice before doing something bad. 

“So are we good, Pete? You’ll give me a second chance?”

“I’m…” Peter sighed. “I’m not going to give you a third one.” 

Yeah, if he messed up again then he would tell Aunt May. She deserved to know despite that Peter didn’t want to ruin her happiness.

“Don’t worry, Peter,” Eddie said. “I’ll make sure you don’t regret it.”

Peter nodded but his stomach was twisting painfully and his spidey sense if anything was even worse. But people deserved a second chance.

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Please comment!


	11. Things Fall Apart (AKA I'm An Evil Author)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I did okay with Nebula. I haven't seen Guardians of the Galaxy in awhile. I sort of have a trigger warning for this chapter, but it will spoil things. Go to the end notes if you want to see it.

For awhile everything was good. Peter wasn’t close friends with Eddie or anything, but he ignored him. Peter spent a lot more time at Tony’s too. Pretty much every weekend he would be there, and many weekdays as well. At first, he had been worried it would be too much for the Starks, but Tony always had the same response when he mentioned it. 

“I like you being here,” Tony said. “We all do. Morgan thinks of you as a big brother.”

He did know Morgan loved him being here. He would always play with her and help her with her homework now that she had started school. She didn’t really need much help since she was probably going to be a genius like her dad. 

“Yeah but Pepper probably wants to be around her real family and not just—“

“Don’t finish that,” Tony said. “And Pepper likes you being here too. We all do.”

And so that was that. 

Lots of the Avengers would hang out around too. He loved spending time with them. Clint was teaching him archery and Captain America would help him with his history homework by telling him stories. Wanda was just a lot of fun to hang out with and the two of them would play Mario Maker. Bruce would discuss his gamma radiation research with Peter and never treated him like a kid. 

It was great. Peter had a second family. 

May only occasionally would mention how he was gone a lot and he always avoided that by saying how he had missed Tony. She seemed to accept that and would mention how Tony understood more the superhero lifestyle that Peter was living.

It was true and yet it made Peter feel bad, but she seemed happy. Whenever he was there, he would try to see any bruises. He would try and see if she was acting weird or anything like that. 

Once she caught him looking at her.

“What’s wrong?” May asked when she was about to meet Eddie for a date. 

“I…” Peter leaned against the counter. “How have you and Eddie been?”

“What?” May asked. “We’ve been fine, baby.”

“Oh, that’s… that’s good,” Peter said. Would she even tell him though if Eddie has done something to her? Maybe she would try and protect him even though he was Spider-Man and could take care of himself. “I just…. I know you argue sometimes.”

He didn’t know how much. It didn’t seem that much but they had been arguing the other night. Peter hadn’t known what to do during that. Maybe he should be around more.

“People argue sometimes. You know Ben and I argued sometimes.”

Yeah, they had, but Ben had been a gentle and good man. He didn’t have a violent bone in his body. 

Still Peter nodded. “I know that. I just… I wanted to make sure.” He tried to make it sound like he wasn’t actually concerned.

“He wouldn’t do that to me,” May said, pulling him into a hug. 

“Good because I’d never let anyone hurt you,” Peter said. 

May nodded and then touched one of his curls. “Why’d you ask that, Peter?”

He froze. What was he supposed to say? Maybe he should tell her the truth about what had happened. Sure, it had been almost a month ago but she’d want to know. If he told her, that could be the end of her relationship with Eddie.

“You don’t seem to like Eddie all that much,” May said. “The two of you… something seems wrong.” 

He really could just tell her now. Maybe May would be able to fix all of this. But when he tried to tell her it was as if nothing would come out. Besides, things were different now.

Weren’t they?

“I’m okay,” Peter said. “It’s great.” 

May looked at him, but then she paused and nodded. “Okay, but I want you to know that you’re my number one priority. Not some man.” 

But he shouldn’t be. He wasn’t even her biological nephew. He had been related to Uncle Ben by blood and now he was gone too, and even if Tony and May had both told him before that it hadn’t been his fault, that didn’t change that he should have done more. 

“Okay, but if you ever have anything to talk to me about then you can,” May said as she gave him a weak smile. “And not when it just comes to Eddie. When it comes to everything. I know I might not understand superhero things as much as Tony but still.” 

“I will, May,” Peter said. 

And he wished that talking to her always could be as easy as this. Right now, he just had to hope and believe that he wouldn’t have the need to tell her anything about Eddie. He wished things could just continue being… okay. 

They were just plain good when he was at the Starks’. 

But it wasn’t right for him to spend all his time there, not when May had to miss him. And despite what Tony said, they couldn’t always want him to be around, even if Tony did say that he was like a son to him. 

So now he was trying to be better, even if that just led to Peter locking himself in his room most of the time and doing homework. He had already sent his applications off and even done some interviews for college so he just had to wait. Tony kept telling him he shouldn’t worry about it. 

“The universities will be lining up to take you,” Tony said when he, Peter, and what Tony called the whole Iron family went to some fancy Italian restaurant in town. 

“Don’t want you to go far way, Ro,” Morgan said. That was her new nickname for Peter. He was pretty sure it came from Underoos. Morgan was currently sitting right in between Nebula and Harley.

“MIT isn’t that far away,” Tony said. “And Peter will visit lots. We can visit him too.” 

“Maybe we can be roommates,” Harley said, grinning. 

No way. Being roommates with Harley Keener actually seemed almost as scary as fighting Thanos. Who knew what Harley would do when he was sleeping as a joke?

“I don’t think so,” Peter said. 

“But I know your little secret, Peter,” Harley said, grinning. Everyone here knew about him being Spider-Man, but it was possible that other customers could hear. “But rooming with you would probably be lame. I’m thinking of getting an apartment soon anyway. You’re going to be stuck living in a dorm.” 

“Where is MIT, Daddy?” Morgan asked her dad. 

“Massachusetts,” Tony said. “It’s not that far away.” 

“Yes, we can visit Peter lots,” Pepper said, smiling at her daughter. 

“We will for sure,” Tony said. “There is a lot I want to show you. It’s my old stomping ground. Rhodey and I can give you an amazing tour. Right, Sour Patch?” 

Rhodey grinned and nodded. “That’s where Tony and I met.” 

“Yes, Sour Patch probably wants to go back just so he can reflect on that. How your life was changed from meeting me,” Tony said, grinning. 

Rhodey rolled his eyes. “Yours was changed just as much.” 

“Yes, Honeybear, because you’re the best friend.” Tony just grinned even wider when he said this. He took a sip of the wine he had. 

“You know, I might not even get into MIT,” Peter said. It was a hard school to get into. “And even if I do then--”

“Okay, Underoos, one you are going to get into MIT. I vouched for you and there is no way they’re going to reject you when I’ve saved the world. Plus you have amazing grades and the Stark internship as well as other extracurricular activities.” 

Peter didn’t know if he was referring to him being Spider-Man or something else. 

“And you’re obviously going to get a scholarship and even if you didn’t, then I would pay for the whole thing.” 

Peter opened his mouth to argue with him about him paying, but he had this talk with Tony because and Tony always refused to budge. Later he might refuse to take his money, but he also suspected that he would mysteriously get a full scholarship if that was the case. 

“So you’re going to go to MIT. Just like most people in the family.” 

“I didn’t go to MIT,” Pepper said. 

“What’s MIT?” Nebula said as she stabbed a pork chop with a fork. 

“Only the best university ever.” And for most of the remaining part of dinner, Tony talked about MIT and his adventures there with Rhodey. 

Eventually it was time to leave. Morgan took Peter’s hand right away and smiled at him. “Petey, we should watch Tangled when we get home.” 

When we get home. It was as if the Tower was his home too and not just a place that he would visit sometimes, but it felt that way too. Almost more so than when he was at his real home and had to walk on egg shells. 

Peter didn’t get the chance to answer Morgan though because as soon as they walked out of the restaurant, the paparazzi swarmed them. The flashing was blinding. He wanted to put on EDITH just to block the light. 

But that didn’t matter. 

What did matter was Morgan let out a small scream and jumped onto Peter. He barely managed to catch her. She wasn’t used to the media. Pepper and Tony were trying to keep her away from them, but when she did encounter them… well, this kind of thing happened. 

“It’s okay, Morgan,” Peter said, holding her close to him. He would never let anyone hurt Morgan. 

“Leave me alone! My big brother Petey won’t let you near me! Daddy won’t let you hurt me either!” Morgan yelled at them.

Peter froze. He didn’t get a chance to react at what she said. He didn’t get to think too much about if the paparazzi had really understood what she said. 

Because that was when Nebula made it worse. 

She grabbed one of the paparazzi closest to them and yanked his camera away from him and then threw it at his feet. The paparazzi jumped away; his eyes wide with fear. “No one scares—” 

“That’s enough, Nebula,” Tony said as he grabbed her arm and pulled her away. 

She gave him a horrible look but let him pull her away. 

“You go near Morgan again and you’ll—” 

“Time to go, Nebula,” Rhodey said.

Nebula made almost a growling noise at the paparazzi, but they left after that. The flashing lights of the camera followed them after that, but there were fewer and they got in the car without any trouble. The rest of the night, Peter, Harley, and Nebula watched Disney movies with Morgan. 

Peter could hear Pepper, Tony, Rhodey, and Happy talking in the background, but he didn’t try to make out the words, even though he probably could have. He was just happy that Morgan had gone back to smiling and was singing the words to the Disney songs. 

Pepper was great at handling things like this and everything would be fine. And Peter doubted that anyone could do anything to Nebula even if they wanted. She was… well… scary. 

After Peter, Harley, Morgan, and Nebula had finished watching Moana, Pepper came in. Morgan was already drifting off in Nebula’s lap. 

“Hey Peter, you okay?” Pepper asked as she went over and sat next to him.

“He’s fine,” Nebula said, not looking up from the credits of the movies. 

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Peter asked. His stomach twisted. “Why wouldn’t I be?” 

“I know you haven’t had much experience around the paparazzi.”

“It’s… You don’t think they’re going to think… I’m Tony’s son?” Peter asked. “If they think than they might look more into who I am. They might find out I’m Spider-Man.” 

Pepper shook her head. “I’m going to handle all of this. It’s going to be all right, but I know this can be a lot to deal with. It was difficult for me at first too. You could stay here tonight if you’re worried about it.” 

“I… No, it’ll be okay. They’re probably more worried about Nebula destroying the camera.” 

“They had it coming,” Nebula said without any emotion in her voice. “If they bother you, Peter, then I will deal with them too.” 

“I… Thanks, but I’ll be okay, really. I told May I would be home tonight,” Peter said. He had told said they could watch movies tonight. And that was what they did once he got home. Eddie, of course, didn’t join them and just shot Peter a look when he walked in and then left to go to the other room. 

But that was fine. He didn’t want to be around him. The night was great. They watched some of May’s favorite films instead of Peter’s, which was fine with him. She had pretty decent taste, even if it was different than his and Ben’s had been. 

Ben had been the one who got him into movies like Star Wars. He had been as obsessed with them as Peter. 

Peter went to bed happy. Today had been great. Well, except for the paparazzi. It was horrible that they would scare little Morgan who probably didn’t fully understand why they were so obsessed with her family. 

But he knew that Tony would be able to take care of her and if not Nebula would be. Nebula was… something. 

But then he was awoken by someone yelling. 

“What the fuck,” someone said, pushing his door open. Peter shot up and saw Eddie who was glaring him. His eyes were lit up with anger. “You’re on TMZ.”

“What?” Peter asked, rubbing his eyes. Then it all came back to him. “It’s…” 

He hadn’t thought they would concentrate too much on him. But Morgan had called him her brother in front of them.

“They think you’re some kind of Stark,” Eddie said. “People are going to say things. You know how many questions I already have to answer because of you at work.” 

Peter opened his mouth to say something but then May came in and put her hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I’m sure Tony will know how to deal with this.” 

“Yeah… I’m sure…” But it was more that Pepper would find a way to deal with this. “They’ll find a way to handle it.” 

“Yes, Tony and Pepper always do.” 

“They’ve caused crazy things like this before?” Eddie asked, spinning around to face May. 

Peter threw his blankets on the floor and practically jumped out of the bed. He was angry. This could go bad. What if May made him angry? Peter would protect her! 

“Well, not exactly like this, but it’s going to be okay,” May said. 

Eddie groaned and then gently moved past her and left Peter’s room. 

“It really is going to be okay,” May said as she came over to Peter and ruffled his hair. 

“It’s… They really think I’m Tony’s son?” Peter asked. 

May nodded. “But it will pass. This kind of thing happens to celebrities all the time and people move on eventually.” 

“Yeah but what if…” 

“They’re not going to find out your secret,” May whispered. She took a couple steps toward the door now. 

“I want to stay home today,” Peter said. She was going to think that it was because of the media thinking he was Tony’s son but that wasn’t the main reason. Yes, it would be annoying for everyone at his school to be talking about him and if he really was related to Tony, but he could deal with that. 

He just didn’t want May to be alone with Eddie if he was this angry. 

May looked at him and then she nodded. “I can stay home too if you want, baby.”

It was tempting. Really it was. He would be able to spend more time with her. Maybe he could talk to her more about Eddie, especially after today’s incident but… Eddie had a right to be mad about something like this. It must make life more confusing living with someone the media thought was related to the man who saved the world. 

And he also knew that May was trying to get a promotion at her job. If she didn’t go, then it might hurt her chances. 

“No, it’s okay.” Really Peter could go to school after May left in a few hours. Eddie should be going to work then too, but it would be good to not deal with his classmates today. “It’s okay, May. You should go to work.” 

May smiled and then kissed him on the forehead before leaving him alone. After that Peter looked at his phone which had been blown up with texts from… well, pretty much everyone, including Flash who had gotten his number once when they had been forced to do a group project together. Or rather Peter had been forced to do the group project while Flash did nothing. 

Peter answered the texts to some people, but obviously not people like Flash. Pepper’s text was the most encouraging, not surprising, but she was saying that she would find a way to handle this and that everything was going to be okay. 

If anyone could make sure it was okay it would be Pepper.

He also talked on the phone for a short time with Tony who said he’d make sure everything was okay and not to worry. 

May left soon after that and Eddie came into Peter’s room and glared at him.

“You better not cause any trouble while I’m gone,” Eddie said and with that he left slamming the door behind him. 

Good.

Peter did originally just plan to hang out around the apartment. He could get ahead on his homework but he couldn’t concentrate. He would find himself reading the same paragraph from his textbook over and over again. 

He couldn’t stay here in this house all day. He needed to get out and do something, especially since Eddie and May probably weren’t going to let him leave this place. Maybe they would send him to Tony’s later but if anything it would be the same there.

Right now Peter had a chance to patrol before he was completely locked up. And he wasn’t going to lose that chance. 

No way. 

He had only been out for about twenty minutes when he got a call from Tony. Peter sighed and answered it. 

“Everything’s fine, Tony,” Peter said. “I just needed to get some air.” 

“You probably have a lot on your mind, kid. Not sure patrolling is a good idea for you.” 

Peter wasn’t surprised at all he would say something like this. 

“It’s fine, Mr. Stark.” 

“Don’t call me “Mr. Stark,” kid. I’m not old.” 

“Well, that’s—” 

“Don’t finish that sentence, kid,” Tony said. There was a voice in the background which Peter recognized at Captain America’s. 

“I just really need to get out. I was going to go crazy if I stayed locked up,” Peter sighed. “You know what it’s like.” 

After all he had been complaining about how much he hated being stuffed in that house in Wakanda and how he was going crazy. He should understand how Peter felt when it came to this. 

There was a sigh. “Fine, Underoos, but you need to keep your head in the game. Don’t do anything that I would do but also--”

“Don’t do something you wouldn’t do. I know, Tony, and I’m going to be good. Don’t worry.” He was about to add on that he was always good, but then Tony would probably mention the Vulture and how he kept going after him even when Tony had told him over and over again not to. 

“Good, because if you’re not then I’m going to send Spangles after you. Trust me, you do not want that. He’s already preparing a speech to give you. Kind of like those PSAs, but it’s going to be about when teenage superheroes do things their genius mentors tell them not to.” 

That… did not sound fun at all. Peter still had nightmares about that PSA he had to watch of Captain America over and over again when he had been in detention. 

“Nebula is still here too.” 

That could be even worse since she would probably murder anyone who seemed like they might be a threat to Peter. Peter didn’t murder. 

“Or maybe I can come out of retirement for a couple hours just to rescue and embarrass you. It might be fun. It will be like old times and--”

“I’m not going to do anything wrong, Tony.” 

“Better not, kiddo.”

And with that the call ended. Peter intended to listen to Tony. He really did. He just wanted to get out for awhile and do some good things. And at first that was what happened, he just helped give directions and assisted a lady at locating her car.

Then things changed. 

It really wasn’t that big of a deal. Something that Peter easier should have been able to handle. Yes, it was a robbery, but he had dealt with those a lot of times. Sometimes though… sometimes they reminded him so much of what happened with Uncle Ben. 

And he let himself get distracted.

It could have been worse. He could have been shot. But instead he was… well… slashed with a knife. This kind of thing had happened many times, but it still hurt. He winced, but webbed up the robbers. He could already hear the police cars in the background, but still he called the police and left an anonymous tip just in case. 

Peter than swung out of there. 

“Peter, you appear to be injured. I would recommend--”

“No,” Peter said, wincing. “We’re not going to tell Tony what happened.” He was in danger of him finding out as is. He could watch the videos of what happened and if that was the case, then Peter might soon have to deal with the Star Spangled Man with a Plan. What was his plan, you ask? Probably to embarrass Peter as much as possible.

“I’m fine, Karen,” Peter said. “I can take care of this myself. Super healing, you know?” 

There was a long pause. 

“Karen? I’m seriously okay. Don’t tell Tony. I don’t want to worry him.” And he didn’t. Tony had enough stress without worrying about Peter and something that would heal soon anyway. “I can treat it myself. It’s going to be okay.” 

“Okay, but if it worsens then I will have to notify Mr. Stark.” 

“Okay, fine. That’s fine.” It wasn’t surprising really. He was just glad that he was going to have enough time to get home and try and treat this himself. 

And soon he was almost back at the apartment, despite that each swing caused pain to shoot through his side. He probably should have taken his suit off earlier, but he was in pain and he just wanted this to be over so he got into his normal clothes in an alley closer to home. He couldn’t bring himself to look at his wound. He would do that when he got home. 

Before he took off the suit, Karen had tried again to make him notify Tony, but he had refused and yanked off the mask. Hopefully she would listen. 

He stumbled into the apartment, knocking into a bookshelf that caused a vase that was on top of it to hit him in the shoulder, shattering on impact. Damn it. Peter was pretty sure that was something May’s cousin had given her a couple years ago. He knew that he should clean up the glass, but his side and now his shoulder hurt. 

Instead he staggered into the bathroom, pulling off his backpack and then his shirt. He winced when he saw his wound. It was red and angry and deeper than he thought it would be. Each time, his heart beat, pain shot through him and seeing this… it made it worse.

“No, no, no,” Peter muttered. He grabbed some disinfectant he had but it probably wouldn’t be enough. He rubbed it on his wound. When he pulled away, there was blood all over his hand. Blood. 

“Fuck,” Peter whispered. He was going to have to call Tony. That was if Karen hadn’t already done it. 

He was about to grab his phone to call him when he heard the front door opened. He hoped it would be Captain America, Tony, or even Nebula.

It wasn’t.

Peter froze and tried not to even breathe when the door opened. He was so quiet that he could hear his heart beating. 

“What the hell?” Eddie spat out. 

Peter cringed, but he wasn’t surprised. Of course, it couldn’t be Tony, or Cap, or even Nebula. Things were never that easy for Peter. No, it always had to be really hard for him. That was just what happened because of his Parker luck. 

But he couldn’t do this right now. He couldn’t face Eddie when he was injured like this. Peter crept closer to the door in the bathroom. Each tiny step he made was almost soundless. Almost. But Peter could hear it. 

Eddie might be able to too. 

But he didn’t seem to. That was until Peter clicked the door locked. Then the apartment went completely silent. 

“Peter?” Eddie asked, his voice echoing. 

Great… This was going to be bad. This might not go well. Peter yanked his phone out of his backpack and opened his texts. 

“Please come here!!!!!” Peter texted to Tony. “I need u!!!!”

The three little bubbles on the phone showed that he was about to respond, but Peter couldn’t wait to see what he said. 

There was a pound on the bathroom door. Peter jumped to the side. 

“Just hurry!!!!” Peter texted. “At apt.” Tony would know he was there because of the tracker in the Spider-Man suit, but he wanted to be careful. 

“What the hell are you doing in there? What have you done?! There’s blood and glass in the living room.” 

Fuck! How was he going to explain any of this? 

“Hurry! Help!” Peter texted Tony one last time. Tony had responded to his previous messages, but Peter didn’t have time to read it. He threw his backpack with his Spider-Man suit in the bathtub, hoping Eddie wouldn’t see if it he got in. He gave the phone one last look and tossed it in after him. He pulled the shower curtain shut quietly, hoping Eddie wouldn’t hear.

“Peter! You better open this now or you’re going to regret it,” Eddie yelled, banging on the door. It wouldn’t be that hard for him to break it down if he wanted to.

“I’m sick!” Peter yelled back. Normally he would be able to handle Eddie. He was much stronger than him with his super strength, but right now it hurt to even move. He couldn’t do this. 

Maybe it was childish, but he needed Tony to show up. Or Cap. Even dealing with Cap’s lectures would be okay because he would be able to handle Eddie. Nebula… well, Nebula would probably overreact and so it was probably best that she didn’t come. 

But even if she did… it might be okay. 

“Sick? What is wrong with you, Peter?!” There wasn’t an ounce of concern in his voice. No, he was mad at him. Peter would have to handle this until Tony came. He had fought the Vulture after a building fell on him. He could do this. 

But he was bleeding a lot. Not just from the stab but also from where the glass vase had cut him. He should have let Karen call Tony when he was on patrol. He was such an idiot. Maybe he could handle this like he had on Homecoming night but…

He had gotten lucky in a way when the building landed on him. He hadn’t been bleeding much, even though he had bruises that lasted for weeks after that. He shuddered at the thought of the building landing on him even now. 

Would he get lucky now? 

No, he was going to have to make his own luck. He could do it. Eddie was just normal and he didn’t have wings. Peter was strong. All he had to do was get him to leave or stall him until Tony showed up. 

“Open the damn door, Peter!” Eddie banged on it. 

Peter ignored him and pulled his shirt back on. It was stained with his blood. 

“I’m going to knock the door down! You know the paparazzi ruined my car because of you.”

Insurance would cover that, wouldn’t they? Peter knew how much Eddie loved that Nissan Xterra even though it was too tall to park in many garages here. He actually felt bad for him for a moment. But it was just a car.

And soon the moment had passed. 

“May got in a car wreck because of you.” 

Peter’s blood froze. “What?” he managed to get out. He couldn’t breathe. There was no way that could have happened. No way! Just no! No! No! No! No! No! 

No. 

“She’s in the hospital, so you better open this goddamn door! This is your fault!” 

His fault. It was his fault. It had been his fault what had happened with Uncle Ben too. He could have saved him, but he had failed. And now it was his fault. His fault. His fault. 

“Open the door. I’ll tell you about your aunt.” 

A large part of Peter was screaming at himself not to do it. Maybe Eddie wouldn’t be crazy enough to knock down the bathroom door after all. The neighbors could hear. 

But he didn’t seem worried about being quiet. Lots of the neighbors had to be at work but some would be home and would hear. 

“Don’t you want to hear about your aunt or do you not care about her?” There was a long silence. “Just like you didn’t care about your uncle.”

How dare he? Uncle Ben… he still thought about Uncle Ben and his death every day. That was why he became Spider-Man.

But he hadn’t been there for Ben. He could have saved him. He had failed one of the most important people in his life. 

Peter stumbled toward the bathroom door and paused. This was his last chance to keep it shut. If he waited, Tony would come. He would help him. 

But he had to know about May.

So he opened the bathroom door. 

Something hard hit him on the head. Peter staggered backward as everything in front of him got fuzzy. He fell in the bathtub, hitting his head. 

He tried to get up but the world was spinning and his stomach was circling. He wanted to say or do something, but then something hit his head again and he blacked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The trigger warning is this chapter has violence. Also swearing, but mostly violence. 
> 
> Anyway please comment!!


	12. Dad ((Also I'm Mad at Sony!!!))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really upset at Sony. If I don't get more Spider-Man in the MCU, I'm going to be pissed!!! I almost want to not get a PS5 and instead an Xbox. So mad!!!
> 
> Anyway, this chapter has vomiting in it so if that upsets you, you might not want to read it. I don't go into detail with it. I apologize for any typos too. Also I don't know much about medical things. I love them, and I wanted to be a nurse, but I sucked at chemistry so that didn't work out. I still don't know anything so sorry for any inaccuracies.

There was pounding. Loud pounding. Over and over again. It needed to stop. Peter opened his eyes and tried to stand but the world was spinning and his stomach was twisting. He tried to stagger forward but collided with the bathroom counter. 

It hurt. He winced and grabbed the counter so he didn’t fall down, but he still hit the ground. 

Blood. He was bleeding. Why was he bleeding? What was going on? What had happened? What was wrong with him?

He tried to remember how he ended up bleeding and unconscious in the bathroom with his head pounding and his side hurting, but nothing would come. Everything was fuzzy. 

His vision was off. There were two toilets in the bathroom when there was normally one. Twice as many as everything.

There was a crashing noise. Front door. Door was knocked down. Maybe. Someone was inside though.

Who was here? Not good. Not good. The voices were calling him but his brain was fuzzy and he couldn’t grasp them.

They could be Hydra. Once… someone had told him Hydra probably would want to kidnap him to turn him into another version of the… Fall Warrior.

He didn’t want to be the Autumn Fighter. No!

He had to stop them. He had to. There was a baseball bat in the bathtub covered in blood. Blood. 

Blood. 

Peter vomited, not sure if it was because of the lose of blood or the spinning or the pain. His head was pounding too. What happened?

“Peter?” voice said again. No, voice didn’t say it. He was yelling. Peter had to do something.

His backpack had his web-shooters, but if it was Hydra or OsCorp he didn’t want them to know for sure he was Spider-Man. He didn’t want to be a lab rat. He didn’t want to be experimented on. He couldn’t go through something like that. 

He grabbed the bat and pushed the bathroom door open. Someone tried to grab him. He swung the bat at them, just wanting to be left alone.

Just because he was enchanted didn’t mean they could do this to him! He was a person! 

But then someone grabbed it from him and restrained him from behind. Peter growled and tried to pull away. He needed to escape. But the person was strong. He wasn’t letting go. 

Peter let out a cry, trying to kick him in the shins.

“Tony, I can’t keep holding him. He’s strong.”

“Kid, it’s me. It’s me, Tony.” Tony reached out and touched his face even though Peter’s face had blood on it. How could Tony be here? 

Wasn’t he dead? No… no… he wasn’t. He had been brought back. He was alive. 

“Mr. Stark,” Peter managed to get out. “Tony…”

Tony pulled him into his arms and Tony touched his head. “Someone hit you.” He looked at Peter’s side, which hurt so much. “You got stabbed?!

“I… I can’t remember,” Peter said, trying to recall what happened to him. How could he had forgotten?

And his arm and other side hurt too. Bruises. He was going to get bruises. It hurt to move. 

“Did someone do this to you on patrol? Karen didn’t say you were this injured. She said it was serious, but she didn’t even tell me right away. What happened?

“I… I don’t know,” Peter said but he wanted to know. This wasn’t normal. 

“It’s okay, son,” Cap said. He had been the one restraining him. Even him being here threw him off but he was their friend again. 

“I don’t feel good. There’s blood. Blood. ‘M dizzy.” He tried to pull away from Tony but he staggered and almost fell. Tony grabbed him. 

“Underoos, that’s enough. Here, let me help you.” Tony guided him to the couch but Peter didn’t want to sit on it because he was going to bleed on it, right? Still he let Tony pull him next to him. 

Steve was gone. Where had Steve gone? Where was he? 

“I don’t feel so good, Mr Stark,” Peter said. “Mr. Stark, I—“

Tony cringed at those words. “Kid, you’re going to be fine. We’re going to leave soon. Have you see a doctor.”

“S hurts,” Peter said, trying to rest his head on Tony’s shoulders. “Oscorp…”

“What about Oscorp? Did they do this?”

Peter tried to remember. He didn’t… this so. He had been on patrol and then… he had been on patrol, right?

“Hydra.”

“Did they—“

“Don’t want to be spring soldier.” He knew he had that name wrong but he didn’t care.

“I’m not going to let Hydra get you, kid. No one is going to get you. I’m here now.”

“I don’t know… I don’t know what happened.” It was so confusing. This wasn’t supposed to happen to him. What was going on?

Tony touched Peter’s curls but then pulled his hand away. There was blood on it.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” 

“Hey, it’s okay, Underoos.” He put his arm on his shoulder. “Some asshole hit you in the head.”

“It wasn’t anyone from Hydra,” Steve said as he came back in with Peter’s backpack. He must have heard them talking, right?. “Most of this happened here, I think. The bathroom is covered in blood.” Steve picked up the baseball bat which Peter had put on the floor. “And this…” 

The blood. It had to be his blood. It was so much blood. If not for his powers what would happen? 

Maybe he would have died. 

Peter was going to be sick. He was going to throw up. And his eyes. He wanted to close his eyes. 

“You’re really saying someone attacked Peter in his own apartment?” Tony asked, gently pulling Peter close. He was warm. Peter shivered and Tony actually pulled off his coat and threw it over his shoulders. 

Steve looked at him. “I… I’m sorry, Tony.”

“I know who it was,” Tony said. “It was that asshole May is dating. I knew there was something off with him. I just didn’t think he’d hurt my kid. I thought he was just weird.” 

Eddie had done this? Peter tried to grasp at the memory but there was nothing. “I don’t remember.”

“You probably have a concussion, kiddo,” Tony said softly. “But don’t worry, your memory will come back. It will all be clear soon. Probably really soon with your freakishly fast healing.” 

“This…” He tried to close his eyes. “I don’t feel so good.”

“I know, but it’s going to be okay. I’m going to make sure of it.” 

“He’s May’s boyfriend,” Peter muttered. “She loves him.” 

“Yeah, well, he’s an asshole,” Tony said. “You were probably injured on patrol and then he attacked you when you were weak. May won’t want to be with an abusive asshole like that.”

Peter couldn’t remember but now Steve was close to him and pulling him up off the couch. No, that wasn’t right. He was trying to carry him. Peter didn’t need to be carried. He was fine. He would be okay. 

But then Steve lost his grip and Peter almost fell over. Things were spinning. Spinning. Spinning.

Spinning. 

He let Cap put his arm around him, supporting him. 

“I bet that asshole is nearby. I bet I could find him and teach him a lesson about hurting my kid.”

Now Peter did pull away from Cap and grabbed Tony’s hand. “Don’t leave.” 

“He needs to suffer and—“

“Don’t leave me, Dad,” Peter said before he could stop himself.

Dad…. Even now he was about to apologize but then Tony pulled him into a hug and then kissed the top of his head gently. This had to be a hallucination. 

“I’ll stay.” He didn’t let go of him even though Peter looked like a fool calling him dad when he wasn’t. “We’ll take you to the tower. Have a doctor look at you.”

“I can try and find May’s boyfriend, but he’s probably gone, Tony. The police will be able to find him. May might even know where he was.”

May… where was May? He wanted to ask but then his stomach twisted more and the world spun. There was something about her that he was supposed to remember.

“Fine, we need to take Pete to The Tower,” Tony said. “I’m going to have all the best doctors look at him. Like Cho. She’s used to treating people with special DNA. Maybe even Strange.”

Strange. Oh… magical doctor Strange. Peter tried to remember if that was his real name or not. 

“He’s going to be okay,” Steve said. “He has a few injuries but he’ll be all right, Tony. He’s already healing.”

Peter tried to nod, but the spinning was bad. 

Steve pulled him away from Tony probably because he was stronger but Peter liked Tony better. But he didn’t pull away from Steve and instead let him guide out of the apartment and down the stairs to the street.

Happy was waiting there and his eyes widened when he saw them. He hurried over.

“What the hell happened?”

“I’ll explain later,” Tony said. 

“Dad,” Peter said weakly as he looked at Tony. “I…” 

“It’s going to be okay, Underoos,” Tony said.

Happy’s expression didn’t even change when Peter called Tony dad. “Who did this? Was it that blue goblin person? I can handle him,” Happy said.

The Blue Goblin? What? That didn’t sound right. It was supposed to be the Green Goblin. It wasn’t worth correcting him. 

Happy couldn’t take him. He was strong and crazy. The Green Goblin would win and then Happy would get hurt. 

“It wasn’t the Green Goblin,” Steve said. 

“Doctor Oct—“

“No,” Peter said. “No.” 

“It wasn’t any of his signature enemies,” Tony said.

“Then who was it?”

“I’ll explain later,” Tony said.

“Tony, I… I’m sick,” Peter said weakly. 

“I know, kiddo, but it’s—“

But he didn’t get to finish because that was when Peter vomited all over Cap. There was a short silence but then Cap ignored the vomit and pretty much picked up Peter, even though Peter didn’t want that. Cap put him in the back of Happy’s car.

“I’m sorry. So sorry. Sorry,” Peter said, clutching his pounding head. Tony slid in next to him while Steve and Happy were in the front. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right,” Steve said. 

“A bit of vomit won’t kill Spangles, Underoos,” Tony said. “Morgan threw up on me all the time when she was a baby. I don’t think vomit is Capsicle’s weakness.”

Peter was worried he would throw up on Tony. That was the last thing he wanted but everything was so confusing. The world was spinning and it was hard to keep his eyes open. 

He leaned against Tony’s shoulder and closed his eyes. 

“No sleeping, kiddo. Got to have a doctor look at you first especially since you were having trouble walking.”

Peter groaned, half expecting for Tony to push him away but he didn’t. Still Peter forced his eyes open. 

“I mean it,” Tony said. “No sleeping. You got to stay awake and listen to me. Come on, kid. Lots of people would sell their kidney for a chance to speak to me. You should be honored.”

Peter closed his eyes again. His side still hurt too. Some rest would help. 

“You used to know how amazing it was to speak to me. You used to… Underoos, wake up!” 

And with that Tony did push him away from him. Annoying. Why couldn’t he just let him sleep for awhile? Why did he have to be so mean and cruel to him?

He was like a dad to him but he wouldn’t let him sleep. He was being horrible.

“Peter, I don’t want you to get hurt worse. After Cho, Strange, or some other doctor looks at you then you can sleep all you want.”

Peter ignored him. He didn’t need to see Doctor Strange or Doctor Cho. He barely knew Cho and he didn’t like Strange since he let Tony die. He didn’t know Strange well either. 

Peter had enchanted healing. He just needed some rest. Concussion and knife wound weren’t that serious for him. 

Despite Tony trying to keep him from sleeping and even when Happy blasted some old music, Peter managed to drift off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment. It will make me less depressed about this Sony Marvel news.


	13. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what I think of this chapter. I guess it's okay.

Tony kept waking Peter up. Peter just wanted to sleep for a little bit but Tony wouldn’t let him. It wasn’t fair. Peter felt worse when he was awakened. He threw up a couple more times, even once on Tony’s expensive shoes. 

“‘M sorry,” Peter tried to say. “So sorry.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Tony said. “At least you didn’t throw up all over my shirt like you did to Cap’s.”

“I… I did…?” It was foggy. Part of him could almost remember it but it seemed like something that happened in a dream. 

Why couldn’t he remember it?

“Don’t worry about it,” Cap said, looking back at him. 

“I don’t… I can’t…”

“If it’s fuzzy, that’s okay,” Tony said. “Normal sign of concussion. It’ll be fine, kiddo.”

Peter wasn’t sure about that. All of this was so confusing.

“Have you told May?” Happy asked Tony.

“May…” Peter said. He wanted May. He had to apologize to her because she would be freaked out by how hurt he was. 

“It’s complicated,” Tony said. “We think…” he cleared his throat. “The kid might not remember who hurt him.”

“I… I do…” Peter said but that seemed like a dream too. Or rather a nightmare. “I do…” 

“See, that’s a good sign for your head injury,” Tony said. “Memory is coming back. Fast too. Your super healing is amazing.” 

It didn’t feel like a good thing, but he did remember things had been fuzzy after he got hit by the train too. Then they cleared up. 

“This is my fau—“

“Don’t you finish that sentence,” Tony said even though he didn’t know why it had happened. Peter couldn’t even remember that well. Just that there had been fighting. 

“Who did it?” Happy asked.

There was a long silence. Peter resisted his head on Tony’s shoulder, half expecting for him to push him away so he wouldn’t fall asleep. He didn’t make him move though. 

“It’s…” Tony sighed and shook his head. 

Peter closed his eyes.

“We’re almost at The Tower, kiddo,” Tony muttered to him.

“Who was it?” Happy asked softly.

Tony didn’t say anything and Peter kept his eyes closed. He would probably fall asleep soon. 

“It was his aunt’s boyfriend,” Cap said in a whisper.

Happy actually slammed on the brakes, causing Tony to grab Peter’s arm which hurt because of a bruise he had there. Still he didn’t flinch.

“What the fuck? Are you serious?” 

“He is, but we can talk about this later?”

“What the fuck?” Happy said. Peter felt his eyes on him. “I’m going to kill that asshole.”

“Nope, if anyone gets to kill Eddie, it’s me because I’m basically Peter’s dad. Dad trumps driver. He called me “dad” before you showed up, so I should get the right to murder Eddie.”

Peter put his hand on his forehead as he tried to remember calling Tony that.

“I used to date his aunt.” 

“It trumps aunt’s ex-boyfriend too.”

“No killing,” Peter muttered. Eddie might not be a good person, but he shouldn’t die. Peter even sometimes felt bad that he couldn’t save Beck.

“Yes, no killing, Tony!” Cap said. “There are other ways to manage it!”

“You know what, Cap. Fuc—“

“I’m texting May,” Happy said. Peter thought about stopping him but the words wouldn’t come out. “She deserves to know more than anyone.” 

And soon sleep came to him so he didn’t even get to find out how that went. 

He was awakened when someone gently nudged his arm and then lifted him out of the car. Cap. It was Cap.

“Maybe we should make him walk,” Happy said. 

Apparently they decided not to because Cap ended up carrying him. It was stupid since he was going to be fine. He was already starting to feel better. He wasn’t a baby.

This whole thing…

“You didn’t really text May?” Peter asked, trying to get away from Cap. “I can handle this.” He made a mistake not telling May but obviously he wouldn’t do that now. He didn’t think that Eddie was that crazy and… he hadn’t thought he would hurt him like that.

He should have been able to avoid it anyway. He was Spider-Man.

Happy shrugged but luckily Cap at least let him down even though he tried to support him. That was fine since he was still dizzy. His head had been hit hard. 

“I had to,” Happy said as if that was a fact. Annoying especially since Happy and May weren’t together anymore. Sure, they were still friends, but they didn’t spend that much time together.

That was probably more the reason. 

“But I…” Peter said stumbling backward. “She’s hurt. He said she got in a wreck.”

“What?” Happy said, his face darkening. “What happened?”

“I… I don’t know.” Peter felt tears form in his eyes. “I just remember he said that. Maybe that’s… why…” had that been why he was mad because Peter had messed up and been partially responsible for what happened to May?

Tony put an arm over his shoulders. “We’ll figure it out, kid. I’m sure she’s fine. Maybe he was lying or maybe it was just a minor car wreck.” 

Peter didn’t know what to think. Everything was spinning and his stomach was twisting.

“Come on, Underoos. Time to get checked on,” Tony said. 

Peter wanted to argue but then he suddenly felt overwhelmed with nausea again. He barely managed not to throw up on Tony but instead did all over the floor.

“I’m so sorry,” Peter said, staggering.

“It’s okay,” Tony said.

“It’s—“

“I said it was fine,” Tony said, doing his best to partially support him while Cap went on his other side. 

“I’ll try and reach May, Pete,” Happy said softly. “If that’s okay. Unless you want—“

“No, you try and reach May. Kid will be fine with me.” He glanced at Cap. “And I guess him.”

Peter was led away by both Cap and Tony while they left Happy messing with his phone in an attempt to reach May. He would. They were still friends and so he was bound to reach her. What was she going to think about all of this? May didn’t deserve to have to deal with this kind of stuff.

So after that, Peter was looked at by the doctor who tried to get him to say what happened but he didn’t remember much. Eventually Tony ended up watching part of his patrol but that still didn’t clear things up. 

“He was hit in the head,” Cap said. “You were unconscious before we came there, right, Queens?”

“Yeah,” Peter muttered as the doctor, who wasn’t Cho or Strange, looked at him. Apparently, Cho was out of town visiting family. Knowing Tony, he’d probably force Strange to come just for a second opinion. “I don’t think it was long.”

“It wasn’t long. You texted me less than ten minutes before I showed up,” Tony said. “Asshole probably ran away when he heard me and Cap. You were probably just knocked out a minute or two.”

Peter didn’t say anything and looked at the floor. He didn’t know how this had happened to him. 

“He hit him with a baseball bat,” Tony said moving away from Peter and started to pace back and forth. “I can’t believe that fucker did that to you. Is he insane?”

Peter just stayed quiet.

“He thinks Peter’s my son but he did something like that. And Peter’s just an innocent kid. Why the hell would he do that to him? I’m going to kill him.”

“You can’t kill him, Tony,” Steve said.

“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do, Spangles.”

The appointment went on for awhile, and Peter had to even get stitches for the knife slash. The head injury they said was serious but should heal though they were going to keep an eye on it. However, he couldn’t do anything for the next few days. They even wanted him to stay at the Tower.

“He’s going to stay at the Tower,” Tony said “Because I’m not letting my kid get hurt.” 

“What if his aunt doesn’t want him to stay here and…” Steve sighed when Tony shot him an evil look. The three of them left the room and went toward Peter’s. At least now he was finally going to be allowed to sleep. 

“She’ll understand. She should stay here too,” Tony said. “Peter’s lucky to be alive.”

“It… I’m Spider-Man,” Peter said, clutching his head. 

“Don’t care, kid,” Tony said, pushing the door to his room shut.

“I’m…” he looked at Steve. “You’re more like me. You have powers like me.”

“Spangles shouldn’t get hit in the head with a baseball bat either, especially when he’s been stabbed and is bleeding out.”

Steve nodded.

Peter sighed and clutched his head. 

“Let’s get you to your room so you can get some rest now,” Tony said, helping him up. “You were pretty much falling asleep in the car so you should be happy.” 

Peter couldn’t even nod. He was really tired, but he wanted to find out what was going to happen with May. What was she going to think about this? Was she okay? Peter would never forgive himself if she had gotten hurt. It was his job to protect her. 

“Hey, I know that look, kid, and you should try not to think too much now. You need to concentrate on just resting.” 

That was easy for him to say. 

“You’re not going to be able to patrol right away either,” Tony said. “I know you’re not going to like that, but you can spend more time with me. It’ll be great. You used to want that.” 

He still did, but patrolling was important to him. 

Peter tried to pull away from Tony as they walked toward his room with Steve behind them, but that didn’t go well. Peter almost fell down, but Steve grabbed onto him, keeping him from falling even before Tony could do anything. 

After that Steve helped him and he wouldn’t let him go until they had reached his room and got him on his bed. 

“I… I’m worried about Aunt May,” Peter said, feeling tears form in his eyes. “She…” 

“Happy’s trying to reach her now,” Tony said, sitting on the edge of his bed. “She’s going to be okay, kiddo. She’s probably just at work. Eddie’s a liar, and we’re going to find him and I’m--”

“Not going to kill him, but find another way to make him regret what he did,” Steve said, not letting Tony finish. “And Tony is right that May’s going to be all right and you should get some rest.” 

Peter didn’t think he would be able to rest now that he remembered that May could be in trouble, but as soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep. His eyes couldn’t have even stayed open. A few times, he awoke for a few minutes to hear people quietly talking in the background. Once it was Tony and Steve and the second time Tony and Happy. 

But neither time did the words make any sense. He fell right back asleep. 

Finally the third time, he managed to keep his eyes open for more than just a few minutes. The lights were dim when he woke up and Tony was talking to someone. Even now it was hard to understand his words, but then he heard her voice. 

“May!” Peter said, managing to sit up even though things were still slightly dizzy. She was here! She was okay. He had been worried that she might have died. 

Like almost everyone in Peter’s life did. 

May came over and gently pulled him into a hug. She kissed his forehead. “I’m so, so sorry, baby. I should have realized something like this was happening.” 

At first, Peter just soaked in her hug, glad that he no longer needed to be afraid that she was dying. Glad that she was okay. 

“’S not your fault,” Peter managed to get out as he pulled away from her, but let her take his hands in hers. “It’s mine for not telling.” 

He had meant to tell her before, but he had been stupid. He had trusted Eddie just like he had trusted Beck. How could he be so stupid all the time? How could someone like him be an Avenger? Avengers protected the world and Peter had failed at even this. Obviously Fury was right and Tony had made a mistake. 

“It’s not,” May said. She touched one of his curls. “And I promise that you’re never going to have to see him again.” 

Peter shrugged. “If you wanted--”

“Don’t even finish that,” Tony said, ending his silence. “And I doubt your aunt wants to stay with someone who hurt you. What kind of sadistic person hits a teenager with a bat? He better pray that I don’t find him.” 

“Maybe… Maybe it was an accident?” Peter said, but he knew that it sounded stupid. He sighed and looked at May. “I just want you to be happy.”

“I am happy,” May said.

Peter didn’t know about that, but he remained quiet. 

“I’m going to stay with you at the Tower while you’re getting better and they’re looking for Eddie. Eddie should be praying I don’t find him either because it wouldn’t go well for him.” 

“You’re… you’re okay?” Peter asked. “I think Eddie said that you were in a wreck.” 

She sighed and shook her head. “Eddie drove me to work and we got rear ended when we were driving. It wasn’t a big deal and no one was hurt. He did seem pretty angry about it. Blamed the paparazzi, even though they weren’t around. Said he was worried about that.” 

Peter didn’t even know what to say. 

“He was pretty sensitive about that car.” 

All Peter could do was nod at that comment.

“But he had no right to hit you,” May said. “And I know you want me to be happy, but I mean it when I say you’re my number one priority and I wouldn’t want to be with someone like that. I love you, Peter.” 

Peter paused but then he hugged her. She smelled like the vanilla perfume she always wore. It was comforting, even now that strong smells gave him a headache. 

“Everything is going to work out,” May said. “I promise everything is going to work out.” 

Peter still had a horrible headache, but he managed to smile weakly for her. He just hoped that she was right and it would be the case, but he didn’t think something like this would ever happened to him. Eventually May left for a quick moment, saying that she needed to make a call to someone. Peter was alone with Tony.

“I knew she wouldn’t be upset with you, kid,” Tony said. “She loves you, and she knows that guy is a dick for hurting you.” 

“It… It still shouldn’t have happened since I’m Spider-Man. I mean I’ve fought Mysterio, and the Vulture, and Thanos.” How could this happened (happen) to someone like him? It was embarrassing and stupid.

Tony shrugged. “This kind of thing happens at times. My father… well he wasn’t great. Let’s just leave it like that.” 

Peter did know that. Tony didn’t talk about his parents, especially his dad, much, but he knew that his childhood had been far from great. 

“That was when you were a child and weren’t Iron Man.” Even Tony had to realize that was completely different. Peter’s childhood had sucked what with losing both his parents and being bullied constantly by Flash, but things should be better now. He shouldn’t need protection, especially when he was basically an adult himself. 

And when he was a superhero. 

“Well, I’ve had issues with panic attacks and anxiety, and you don’t associate those with superheroes,” Tony said, shaking his head. “And Thor has struggled with depression. All of us have issues, Pete.” Tony came over and put his hand on his shoulder. 

For what felt like a long time but was really less than a minute, Peter didn’t say anything. Finally, he looked up at Tony. “Thank you.” 

“Thank you?” 

“For coming for me,” Peter muttered, looking down at his hands. 

“I wasn’t going to leave you there, kid.” 

Peter nodded. “But still you didn’t have to. So thanks… Thank you, Dad.” Peter cringed when he realized what he had said. “I mean… I’m sorry. I know you’re not really my dad and are my mentor but--”

Tony laughed. “It’s fine. Kid, I’ve told you that you’re like a son to me. And honestly, I’m honored that you would ever even consider calling me “dad.” 

Peter couldn’t help but grin and hug Tony. Even now he was so grateful that Tony was still alive.


	14. Chapter 14

May was angrier than anyone else. Peter knew that she was trying to keep calm in front of him but he knew her too well. It had been almost a week now, but nothing changed. 

“If I catch him, he’s going to wish he never met me,” May said from the hallway to Tony. She probably thought Peter was sleeping and couldn’t hear her but he wasn’t and he had enhanced hearing. “I don’t need powers for someone like him.”

“I’m also—“

“No, Stark. He’s mine. I’m the one who’s going to deal with him. How could he even do this?” May said. “I’m going to murder Eddie if I ever see him again.” 

“I want to too and--”

“He tried to text me,” May said. 

With this, Peter froze. What? He… he wanted to be the one who found Eddie and confronted him, not May or Tony or one of the other Avengers. It had to be him. It was a way for him to show them that he wasn’t a child, even though somehow this had happened to him. 

“I don’t know why he thinks there is anything that could justify what happened. Like it could really be an accident,” May said. “I told him to turn himself into the police or to face me, but he wouldn’t even do that.” 

After that Tony and May had continued to discuss what they wanted to do with Eddie, or rather Tony would try and say something about how he wanted to hurt him, but then May wouldn’t let him and then she would talk about what she wanted to do. 

Peter had heard enough, and jumped out of bed before going into the hallway. May and Tony stopped talking and looked at him as soon as he stepped out. 

“Hey, baby,” May said, beaming, even though it didn’t reach her eyes. “Tony and I were just--”

“I could hear you,” Peter said, even though he didn’t want to talk about this with them either. “And you two don’t need to worry about it.” 

“Peter--”

“I mean it,” Peter said. He leaned against the wall. “And I feel fine now. Super healing, you know?” Not that he hadn’t told them that he was feeling much better over and over again. “We could even go back home now, May.” 

“Aww you’re making me sad, Underoos. You’re in that big of a hurry to get away from me?” Tony said.

Peter didn’t even bother answering that at first, but then Tony kept looking at him and he couldn’t help it. “I just need some space and everything’s fine. I’m good now.” 

“If Eddie--”

“I can handle him,” Peter said with a roll of his eyes. “He just happened to get a lucky hit. He won’t get lucky again.” 

And he wouldn’t because Peter was going to do better at trusting his spidey sense. It had never let him down before. 

“We just want you to be--” May tried to say, but Peter didn’t even let her finish that. He knew that he was being rude, but right now he didn’t care as much as he should have. 

“I am safe, and I can protect you from him too,” Peter said. “And I will. I’m just… I’m ready to go back home now.” 

May sighed and ran a hand through her hair. 

“You’ll get to eventually, kiddo,” Tony said. “We just think that it might be a good idea for you two to stay another week or two. Just until--”

“If it’s until I’m healed, then I’m already--”

“That and also because it’s just a good idea,” Tony said. “And don’t say that you don’t need me to watch out for you. It’s my job.” It actually wasn’t his job since he wasn’t his actual father, but still. “And maybe I don’t want you to reach Eddie first because we all know that you will--”

“Kick his ass?” Peter asked. 

Tony shrugged but nodded. “And really it’s probably better for you not to have to deal with him.” 

May nodded and ruffled his hair. 

“It’ll be fun when you’re here,” Tony said. “You always want to hang out at the Tower.” 

That was true, but now that he had to be here some of the fun had been lost. Still it wasn’t as bad once Tony and May actually let him do things besides just stay in his bed. He played with Morgan a lot and when Tony and May weren’t paying attention, he even let her try out his web shooters. 

That had… that had probably been a mistake since she had ended up making a huge mess. A bunch of her toys were stuck in random places, but the webs would dissolve in a couple hours. Still, the adults hadn’t been happy. Not surprising. 

“But it was fun,” Morgan had said with a pout. 

And it had been but Peter wouldn’t let her use them again. He was good and followed all their rules, and finally he and May got to go home and he could patrol again. It felt like he was going to go crazy if he couldn’t do that soon. 

Even if he wasn’t supposed to do anything too crazy. It wasn’t like he would be able to turn away from something happening though. He had to protect people, not that he was going to mention to May or Tony that he wouldn’t hesitate to do what needed to be done.

And part of him wanted to do something more than just the neighborhood things he did. Then maybe Tony and May would remember he was a child. But he knew this was childish. 

It didn’t make a difference because recently the patrols had been uneventful for the most part. He was on top of it. Soon things even seemed like they were going back to normal. 

Until they didn’t. 

One day after patrolling, he came home to see May tossing things in the trash. Her eyes were lit up with anger. She threw a picture frame in it and it shattered. 

He flinched.

“Are you okay, May?” he asked.

She gave him a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes or get close to that. “I’m great, baby. Just doing some cleaning.”

Peter stared at her. Obviously something wasn’t right. Her eyes were red.

“Okay, maybe… I’m just so angry with myself,” May said. She took a big sip from a glass of wine she had next to her. “I’m mad that I would date someone who hurt you.”

“It’s not your fault,” Peter said as he went over and picked up some of the glass that had fallen on the floor. “He didn’t want you to know and I didn’t tell you.” 

“It makes me feel worse that you didn’t feel like you could tell me what was going on.” Her eyes widened as soon as she said that. 

“I wanted you to be happy,” Peter said as he stood up. “And I thought that it would be just the one time before.”

May sighed. “I should have realized something was wrong. I knew you didn’t like him but I thought that was it. That should have been enough.”

But it shouldn’t have. It didn’t matter if Peter liked who she dated or not.

“So I’m sorry,” May said with a sigh. 

Peter shook his head. She didn’t have any reason to be sorry. He was the one who should be. She was upset because of what happened and…

“Wouldn’t it be better if someone found Eddie?” Peter already knew that Tony was trying to do just that but still.

“If he rotted in jail,” May said. “Or paid for what happened to you.”

And that was how Peter decided what he was going to do next. It was crazy but he was going to find Eddie. He didn’t know what he would do to him but he’d… well, he’d do something. 

He started trying to find out where Eddie was that same night. Having EDITH made it easier than it would have otherwise been. He knew that Tony was probably using something similar but Peter… well, Peter wanted to find Eddie before Tony could.

He should be the one to deal with this, not Tony who was supposed to be retired. 

So this whole weekend, he planned to try and figure out what was going on. He felt bad since he should take MJ on a date and hang out with Ned more, but he had to do something. He also wasn’t going to be patrolling this weekend unless he had time. 

But he hadn’t even gotten home when a car honked at him. 

He turned around to see Morgan half outside a window. Tony was grabbing onto her and pulled her back before she could fall out. 

“Petey, we’re going on a trip!” Morgan said. Her eyes were wide with excitement. 

“That’s great,” he said, wondering where Tony and Pepper were going to take her. Morgan got to go to a lot of fun places that many kids didn’t, but she was still just as sweet and not spoiled. “Where are you going?” 

“Seattle!” Morgan said. 

Seattle? Peter hadn’t seen that coming. 

“Get in the car, Underoos,” Tony said. “We got to talk.” 

“Yeah Roo. Get in the car,” Morgan said, copying her dad before she or maybe Tony rolled up the window. 

Peter did what they wanted, even though he had a feeling that Tony probably had some kind of plan. Maybe he would want to give him a talk about how he shouldn’t patrol over the weekend. After Tony came back, he was more protective, and this Eddie thing even made it worse. Maybe it was sweet in a way, but Peter was powerful and could take care of himself. 

“So why are you going to Seattle?” Peter said as he sat next to Morgan who was in the middle. 

“Pep has some meetings there. With Amazon and Microsoft.” 

“Doesn’t she like when you go to those too?” Peter asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Tony groaned. “You know how I feel about meetings. So boring. I’d have to drink five cups of coffee just to stay awake during them.” 

“Only five cups? So not as much as you usually drink?” Peter asked. 

“Daddy drinks a lot of coffee,” Morgan said. 

“That would be in addition to my normal coffee,” Tony said. “It’d still be difficult to stay awake during it. Pepper would like it if I went though but someone needs to watch Morgan so…” He shrugged. 

“Petey can watch me!” Morgan said. 

Wait, what? 

“That’s actually part of the reason that we decided to come get you, and well, because it’s getting cold and I know the spider part of you doesn’t react well to that,” Tony said. 

He was fine actually. He had his powers for three years now and he knew how to deal with it. Yes, some parts of it still sucked, such as winters, but that wasn’t as bad as how most medicines didn’t work for him. It had been more than a relief when he started to be able to use Captain America’s since they did have an affect on him. 

“You want me to go with you to Seattle?” Peter asked. 

“Yep,” Tony said, popping the p.

“I don’t think that May--”

“May already knows about it. She has for awhile. She thinks it will be a good idea.” 

“But I’m busy,” Peter said since he had to. If he went with Tony and Morgan and Pepper, it would be harder for him to do his research. Tony obviously knew exactly what EDITH could do whereas May only had a general idea. 

Okay, maybe she had a bit more of a general idea since Happy had probably told her some things, but even Happy didn’t know exactly what it could do. 

“Busy doing what? Think fast, Underoos.” 

Peter stared at him and tried to come up with something that would work. 

“Uh… Ned… MJ…” 

“You can bring Ned,” Tony said. “If he wants to come.” 

Ned would be ecstatic. He had met Tony a few times, but the other day he had been talking again about how cool he was and how he couldn’t believe that he had met Tony and so many other Avengers. Going on a trip with them… Peter would feel bad if he said something that made it so it couldn’t happen. 

“I’d say that MJ could come too, but I can’t let there be any little spiders.” 

“Little spiders,” Morgan said, giggling even though she probably had no idea what that meant.

Peter rolled his eyes. 

“I still…” 

“Come on, Underoos. You know that you can go. It’ll be fun. We can go to the Space Needle and ride the Great Wheel, and I don’t know get rained on. Isn’t that what people do when they’re in Seattle?” 

Peter wasn’t sure because he had never been to Seattle before. He had hardly been anywhere before he had gotten to know Tony and now he had been to multiple countries. He had even been to space. Not that he liked to think about that. 

“I…” 

“Come on. It’ll be fun.” 

“What about the paparazzi? They still think we’re related,” Peter said. 

Tony needed to do something about that. It was a miracle that he could now walk home from school without dealing with them. That probably wasn’t going to last much longer. 

“Maybe they won’t be in Seattle,” Tony said, but Peter doubted that he actually believed that. Why wouldn’t they be in Seattle?

“I want you to come, Petey,” Morgan said, giving him puppy dog eyes and sticking her lip out. “It’ll be fun, Petey.” 

Peter groaned. “You made her do that, didn’t you?” 

Tony grinned and laughed. “So does that mean it worked and you’re going to come?” 

Peter sighed, but nodded. He’d go, but he wasn’t going to give up on his goal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope it’s okay. Sorry it took me longer than usual to post. Been sad about... well you all might know...
> 
> Anyway thank you for reading.


	15. The Duck and other Adventures

“I want to ride the Duck,” Morgan said as she pointed at a bus that people were quacking on. “That looks fun. I want to ride it, Daddy.” She gave her dad puppy dog eyes.

“Uh…” Tony said, looking at Peter and also Bucky and Steve who had also ended up coming with them today. 

Peter was conflicted. On one hand he didn’t want anyone to see him in the Duck, and since the paparazzi thought he was Tony’s son this could end up online. Therefore, Flash and the rest of his class would see. On the other hand, it would be funny to see Tony on something like that. 

“I’ve heard people have died on the Duck,” a random person nearby said.

“Oh, you heard that,” Tony said. “Can’t risk you getting hurt, Little Miss.”

Maybe that would have been it, but then the person next to the random person had to say something to their friend.

“Actually, only people riding next to the Duck get hurt,” random person two said. “The Duck destroys all other cars.”

And that was basically what ended it all. They ended up buying tickets.

“Buck and I—“ Steve tried to say no doubt coming up with some kind of excuse.

But then Morgan jumped into his arms. “Uncle Stevey. I want you to come. Please!”

Steve’s face expression melted and his voice got really soft. “Uncle Steve?” 

“I want you to come,” Morgan said.

“I’ve never told her to call you that by the way, so don’t get any crazy ideas that I think you’re my long lost brother or something,” Tony said, shrugging. “Though I wouldn’t be surprised if I had one given my father’s history, but because of the whole frozen in ice for seventy years thing it couldn’t be you.” 

Steve just looked at Tony.

“You come with us?” Morgan said, still in Steve’s arms.

“You should come away,” Tony said. “Underoos and I can’t be the only one to suffer his humiliation.”

“You need a body guard anyway,” Bucky said ending his silence. He smiled and pushed his long hair back.

“Me? No. I’m Iron Man, but the kids might.”

“Peter? No. He’s tough.”

Peter smiled weakly as Morgan finally let go of Cap and took Peter’s hands instead. At least someone thought that he was tough. 

They did all end up going on the duck which was just as embarrassing as Peter thought it would be since the tour guide made everyone on it quack. Luckily Peter was able to pull his hoodie up and didn’t sit by the window so no one seemed to pay attention to him. 

A few people wanted selfies with Tony, and a couple times Peter was worried Tony would make him join in but he didn’t. Instead he made Cap join as Peter just sat there with Morgan and Bucky.

Finally the embarrassing duck ride ended. 

After that they did other tourist things like going to the Space Needle which was fairly cool. Morgan tried to get Peter to use his web shooters to swing from it, but she didn’t get to say much before Tony and Cap made her stop. 

That night when they were in the hotel room Peter tried to use EDITH to do more research on the Eddie thing, but whenever he tried to someone would come and demand his attention. 

“Why are you using EDITH?” Tony asked when Peter was just about to do something. He took them off Peter’s head.

“I… uh…” he needed to come up with a good excuse. “Spider-Man things?” He hadn’t meant it to come out sounding like a question. 

“Why do I not believe you?” 

Peter couldn’t answer at first. His tongue was stuck on the bottom of his mouth. Eventually he finally managed to spit some words out. “But it’s the truth.”

It wasn’t like they were good words.

“I didn’t give you EDITH for you to use it poorly,” Tony lectured. He ruffled Peter’s hair.

“Haven’t you used your Iron Man tech for fun? Not that I’m doing this for fun.” It was the opposite of fun. 

“Do as I say, not as I do, Underoos.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry. I’m not using it for evil.”

He was sure that would be it for that discussion, especially since Tony handed him the glasses back, but then Morgan ran into the room with Bucky and Cap following closely behind her. 

“Daddy, I’m bored!” 

That was when Peter took time to sneak off into the hotel’s hallway and then to the elevator. He didn’t have much time. He had no doubt that Tony would easily find him if that was what he wanted. Or he would send Cap or Bucky or Pepper to get him. 

Near the hotel lobby, there was an office area that had a sign that it was for checking into flights. Peter pushed a chair in front of the door so it would be harder for anyone or rather Tony or anyone else he knew to come in. 

He just needed a bit of time. Not Tony breathing over his shoulder and not letting him do anything with EDITH. He didn’t want him to get fed up and take it away. 

Despite everything he didn’t think that he would actually get anything new, but then when he was looking into where he could be, he found an address that he hadn’t seen before. He should have been able to but it hadn’t been here before. He had looked over and over again.

Something had changed.

But maybe it didn’t matter. 

But then he tried to access the file. Blocked. This couldn’t be happening. He was supposed to have access to all unless…

He had to find a way to get around it. Tony must have done something. That was the only thing that made any sense. 

Peter groaned and rolled his eyes. Obviously, he was trying to protect him but Peter didn’t need that. He loved Tony. He was like a dad to him but he could take care of himself. 

And he was going to get the information he needed. He had a computer here and the glasses. He’d manage.

And he did. It was unbelievable. He was near Seattle. In a place called Tukwila. Or at least he had a house here. Could this be by chance? No, maybe Tony had planned it. Maybe he was trying to do something. 

Peter did his best to memorize the address.

Just as he had it down, there was a knock on the door. Peter yanked off the glasses knowing who it would be. Just sensing it.

“I know you’re in there, kid,” Tony said. “So open the door.”

Peter sighed and did it before he did something crazy. “I just needed some space.”

“Space, huh?” Tony asked as he came in. 

Peter nodded.

“You mean you needed to break my rules and try and find Eddie.”

“I… no, I wasn’t.” Peter denied it right away but Tony kept staring at him. 

“I know you, kid. I know exactly what you were doing now and what you’ve been trying to do.”

Peter cringed and sighed. “Okay maybe but it’s because I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. I have superpowers but someone else…”

And that was mostly it. But he needed to confront Eddie. He had to deal with him himself. He owed it to May and the world. 

“You’re not going to confront him.” 

“I wasn’t doing it for that reason.” It was a total lie but he had to hope that Tony would believe him. “I just… you know, needed to know where he was.”

“So you could confront him.”

“I…”

“I know you weren’t going to kill him. You’re too good for that, but still.”

“I really just needed to know where he was so I could tell the police.” He hoped that it sounded convincing. He did want Eddie to be arrested. No one else should be hurt like he had.

If someone else had been hit by a bat like that they could have died.

Tony sighed and put his arm over Peter’s shoulders. “Kid…”

“Why were you looking up where he was?”

Tony froze before moving his arm away. “I… I’m not like you.”

At first Peter didn’t know what that meant and then it hit him. “You don’t mean… Mr. Stark!”

“He hurt you. I don’t want someone like that running around. I failed to protect you from the Vulture, Thanos, and Beck. Dealing with Eddie…” Tony shook his head and didn’t even mention how Peter hadn’t called him Tony. “I thought it was the least that I could do after everything.”

Peter stared at him. 

“Maybe Eddie should be honored if I did it. Killed by Iron Man. Not many get that opportunity.” Peter knew Tony was probably trying to make it sound funny but he failed.

Peter just cringed. “I don’t want you to kill anyone.” 

Tony sighed but nodded. “I’m not going to kill him. Mind you the asshole deserves it, but I’m not going to do it. Despite how tempting it is.” Tony’s eyes were lit up with anger and Peter almost wasn’t sure he believed that he wouldn’t do anything. “Pepper wouldn’t like it. She’d say the law should deal with it.”

“But you still came here because—“

Tony shrugged. “Just in case and I did need to meet with Amazon and Microsoft and I thought it would be a fun trip. Steve and Bucky wanted to go to the World Series too.”

Peter already knew that World Series part. Baseball had started up again but it had been late so the World Series was also late this year. Peter wasn’t huge into any sports even though he did consider himself a Mets fan and even had a Mets pennant in his room, but he did know the Mariners had been a horrible team before the snap. Now they were going against the Dodgers in the World Series.

Steve and Bucky had wanted to see the Dodgers since they had been fans of them when they had been in Brooklyn. 

“So I was killing multiple birds with one stone. Spangled and the Manchurian candidate probably finally realize how great I am.”

Peter didn’t even know what to say to any of these. He looked at the floor. 

“Long story short but no visiting Eddie. No causing trouble. I don’t want you doing anything I wouldn’t do or—“

“Or anything you would. I know,” Peter muttered.

“Yep. You got it, Spiderling.” Tony threw his arm over Peter’s shoulders once again. “I’m going to handle this Eddie thing for you. In a non violent way even though he deserves it.”

“Why’d you bring me if you didn’t want me to do anything?” Peter asked.

Tony raised an eyebrow. “You know it’s because I care about you. You’ve grown on me. Kind of like—“

“Don’t compare me to a fungus,” Peter said but he couldn’t help but smile a bit.

Tony shrugged. “So you’re not going to do anything that I—“

“I’ll be good,” Peter said.

And he meant to follow through with that. He really did, but then all night he was tossing and turning thinking about what happened not just with Eddie but also Thanos, Beck, and even the Vulture. When he finally fell asleep, his dreams were haunted by nightmares.

He woke up gasping. 

This was Eddie’s fault. He had been getting better. The Vulture, Thanos, and Beck were all gone with the latter two being dead and the Vulture being in jail but Eddie….

Obviously he wasn’t as bad as them but he could hurt someone. A kid. 

But Tony was going to do something. There was no way that he would just leave him out there, not when he had hurt Peter like he had. 

But it wasn’t Tony’s job to handle this and he might… overreact also. Tony cared about Peter. He really did seem to think of him as a son. It was crazy even now but…

Still this wasn’t Tony’s job and he might always think of Peter as some kind of child he had to protect if he let him deal with it. That wasn’t what Peter was. It had all just been a mistake.

And who knew how Tony would react if he went and confronted Eddie. It could be worse. No, it would be worse than Peter handling it.

He was going to do this, but he was going to have to find a good time to sneak off. The whole day he tried to find a chance, but obviously Tony was expecting it, since if Peter left for longer than a bathroom break he would find him and give him a look as if he knew he was planning something. 

Which he was but that wasn’t the point. 

Finally he came up with an idea. Would it work? No, but he was going to try. 

“You’re going to the game again tonight, Mr. Rogers?” Peter asked Cap. 

“Yes, Buck and I were Dodgers fans back in the day.”

Peter already knew that but he nodded. “I like baseball too. Ben used to take me to games.”

And he had. Ben had loved the Mets and always hoped they would make the playoffs. Even now Peter could remember his face lighting up whenever one of the Mets scored a run. 

“He was a big Mets fan,” Peter muttered.

“They… they’re a good team,” Steve said even though he wouldn’t know that from when he had been young but more recently. 

Peter nodded. “Is there anyway I can go to the World Series too? I know the Mets aren’t in it but I’ve never been to the World Series.” Or the playoffs. They hadn’t had the money for that. Even normal games had been special for Peter and Ben. 

“I think the tickets are already sold—“

“It’s fine,” Tony said. “I can get us all tickets. The best tickets.” 

“But you have that thing with Pepper,” Peter said, knowing that he would win with this. Pepper was already annoyed Tony hadn’t gone to any meetings so far.

Tony narrowed his eyes. “I know that you’re—“

“I’ll keep him from getting in trouble, Tony,” Steve said. “You can trust me.”

Now Peter felt worse. Tony and Steve got along now. Before the snap they hadn’t. What if this caused them to fight again?

But Peter had to do something. 

“Okay, Cap,” Tony said with a sigh. “But Morgan is coming too.”

Peter forced himself to smile. That would make it harder and already wasn’t going to be easy. He was going to have to escape Captain America and the Winter Solider.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading and please comment!!! I might be doing a huge writing challenge this weekend so I might be streaming some writing on Twitch. Let me know if you want to know my username so you can watch.
> 
> So the story is nearing an end. After this finishes I have a few other fanfic project ideas. I hope to work on them all. Here they all are in case anyone is curious. 
> 
> 1\. An Iron Dad and Spider Son ff that takes place after Homecoming and before Infinity War when Peter is kidnapped and he must try to escape while the Avengers try to rescue him. I know it's been done before but kidnapping is my bread and butter
> 
> 2\. A ff about Steve when he goes back to the past and his life with Peggy and what not. I should probably watch Agent Carter first. I don't have Hulu at the moment so this probably won't be the next one. 
> 
> 3\. I'd really like to do an Iron Dad Bingo but I don't have a bingo sheet :(
> 
> 4\. A Silent Hill fanfiction. Heather thought that she was finally safe and could try and recover from her dad's death, but the Order had other plans and is willing to use whoever they can to achieve their goals, including others with experiences in Silent Hill who have lost everything.
> 
> 5\. A RE one about Claire and her life after her parents die to RE2. It will mostly focus on Chris and Claire Redfield and their sibling bond, but will also have the STARS members and maybe some of my beloved Outbreak characters. No Leon though probably :( 
> 
> Thank you all again!! If you want to let me know what you think of my story ideas, feel free to! I know most, if not all of you, are MCU fans and not RE or SH ones, but I thought I'd mention all my ff projects anyway.


	16. The Grand Escape?

The Mariners were winning, which was clearly not what Bucky wanted, given how he kept pulling at his hair and covering his face. Steve seemed to have the opposite reaction. His eyes were huge and he was eating his fourth hotdog. 

“They’re not that far behind,” Peter said as he leaned back in his seat. He was going to have to do something soon. Cap and Bucky were distracted, but they would notice he was gone right away, and he knew a baseball game wasn’t going to be enough to keep them from going after him. 

He was going to need more time. 

“I want cotton candy, Uncle Steve,” Morgan said as she climbed onto his lap, almost causing the hot dog to fall down. 

“I’ll take her to get one,” Peter said, standing up right away. He practically jumped up. 

Cap rose his eyebrows. 

“I’m not going to sneak off when I have Morgan with me,” Peter said, and that was true. He wasn’t going to abandon Morgan like that. He would never do that to her and especially when they were in a place like this.

People knew that they were here. They had been on the big screen. Well, mostly Cap had been, but they had showed all of them. Peter had grabbed Morgan and moved out of the view of the camera as soon as he noticed. Morgan didn’t seem to mind them as much as the paparazzi but still it couldn’t be good for her to be in front of them.

Peter didn’t want to be on them because it was awkward, and if he was too often people might stop thinking he was Tony’s son and instead discover that he was really Spider-Man. Or they could think that he was both Tony’s son and Spider-Man. 

Cap kept studying him, not even looking at the game.

“I mean it, Mr. Rogers,” Peter said. “Tony told me I had to stay with the two of you anyway.” 

“Tony told me that you don’t listen to him.” 

Now that wasn’t fair. Peter did listen to Tony… most of the time. 

“I’m going to now,” Peter said. “And I mostly do. Just I don’t when…” he shrugged not sure what to say. “When I can’t listen to him.” 

“Like when you think it’s smart to sneak on a spaceship? You need to make less dangerous choices.” 

Bucky looked at Cap and laughed. Cap gave him a wounded look. 

“It’s just you made a lot of rash and dangerous decisions when you were young, Steve,” Bucky said. “So it’s interesting hearing you lecture Peter.”

“It… I… that was a long time ago and wasn’t the same thing. I wanted to fight Nazis.”

“I’m going to listen anyway.” Peter said ending Bucky and Steve’s discussion even though it was interesting to hear. 

“Fine,” Steve said. “Do you have money?” 

Peter pulled out the Stark Industry credit card Tony had given him. He had assumed it was for just Spider-Man related things but Tony had said he could spend it on whatever. 

“I’ll get her cotton candy with this,” Peter said. 

And with that he took Morgan’s hand and they started a search for cotton candy. Once they found some Morgan couldn’t decide to get blue or pink so Peter just bought her both. 

Morgan immediately started to eat the blue one. “Petey, are you going to sneak away?” 

Peter froze when she said that.

“I can help you,” Morgan said. “I can be your sidekick.”

Peter shook his head. “I… I’m not going to be doing any Spider-Man things. And let’s be real, if we teamed up, I’d be the sidekick, not you. You’d be an amazing superhero.” 

“I know, but I mean I can help you get away from Capsicle.” 

Peter paused.

“I can help you! I can distract Uncle Capsicle!”

If he accepted her help, Tony might be furious. Then again how was he going to know that Morgan had done it on purpose? And Peter didn’t know if he had any other option. He didn’t want to have Captain America or the Winter Soldier dragging him back to the game.

“I…”

“I want to help,” Morgan said, giving him puppy dog eyes. She grabbed a coin out of his jacket that Tony had given him. 

That coin… it wasn’t the right shape.

“Your dad put a tracker on me?” Peter asked, rolling his eyes but it was typical Tony who had a tracker in his Spider-Man suit too. Now he was okay with that but this was different.

“Daddy is worried about you,” Morgan said, giving him a piece of cotton candy. “But you’re Spid—“

“If you could help me that would be great,” Peter said, taking the tracker from Morgan and looking at it. 

Morgan grinned and stuffed more cotton candy in his mouth. “We should have a code word.”

Peter walked back with her but they were stopped before they could get to seats because it was the middle of an inning. “Code word.”

“Which means it’s time for you to escape. The code is going to be…. Octopus.”

“Octopus? But then Steve and Bucky will know something is up,” Peter said. He couldn’t help but smile at Morgan. She really was like the little sister had had always wanted to have. 

“No, they won’t, Petey! They won’t know!” Morgan said.

Peter hesitated but that was when the inning ended and Morgan didn’t wait for him and sprinted down to where Cap and Bucky were. Cap was already staring Peter down so he had no choice but to go down there. 

Cap gave him a weak smile and patted him on the shoulder, not saying anything but somehow already making Peter feel bad for what he was about to do.

The next inning went normal. Or as normal as it could with this being the World Series. At one point someone hit a ball near them. Peter could have got it with his reflexes and really Cap and Bucky could have too but none of them did. 

“Octopus,” Morgan said with a smile before it disappeared and she gripped Cap’s arm. “Uncle Cap! UNCLE CAP!” 

Peter stood up, wondering if now was when he should try and leave, but he wanted to know exactly what Morgan was planning. She was smart, probably smarter than a lot of Peter’s classmates, but she was still young. 

“What’s wrong, Morgan?” Cap asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. 

“I want one of the baseballs!” Morgan cried. “I want one of them really bad.” 

Steve and Bucky exchanged looks, obviously not sure what they should do about this. 

“Morgan, we can’t--”

“I want one so bad!” Morgan yelled. 

This wasn’t like Morgan. Her parents might be rich, but she wasn’t a spoiled brat and didn’t throw tantrums like this. Peter knew this, but that didn’t mean that Bucky and Steve did. They didn’t see her nearly as much as he did. 

And Morgan was a good actress. 

She was still yelling and people were now staring. Bucky and Steve were trying to get her to calm down, but it was like nothing was working. 

“I have to go to the bathroom,” Peter said. 

Steve barely even looked at him when he said that. Obviously, he was too busy dealing with Morgan and now people who were trying to film what was going on. This wasn’t going to be good. This was going to end up on TMZ probably. 

Pepper would find a way to get it removed. 

This was Peter only chance. He was tempted to stay and get Morgan to stop, but he had to confront Eddie. He wasn’t going to get another opportunity to do this. He wasn’t even going to get another chance. 

Peter pretty much—no, that wasn’t right—he did sprint up the stairs. He had to get out of here before Steve or Bucky decided it was time to come after him. Since it was between innings, the area where the food was located was packed. He gently pushed past people, sometimes saying excuse but sometimes not bothering.

He had to escape. 

And soon he was outside the stadium. He breathed a sigh of relief and ran. Toward the other stadium. He would catch an Uber or something. He could get out of here. This was going to work.

That thought didn’t last. He couldn’t even make it to the football stadium next to the baseball one. 

“Queens!” a familiar voice called. 

Of course… Peter couldn’t be that lucky. Never. He spun around and there sure enough was Captain America. 

“Tony told me you might try and do something like this,” Cap said, even though he had said something earlier. He was shaking his head as he took a couple steps toward him. Luckily for the two of them no one else was around. They were all at or near the baseball game. “I know it’s not right what happened, son, but we’re handling it. This isn’t something that you need to do.” 

“It’s… Yes, it is,” Peter said, narrowing his eyes at him. 

“You really don’t,” Cap said. “Everything’s going to be okay. I know you want to protect your aunt, but she’s going to be fine too.” 

Peter cringed. He didn’t want Cap to mention his aunt, even if Peter obviously did want to protect her, especially now. And he was going to do that. He was going to protect more than just his aunt. 

“And I know that you got Morgan to help you escape.” 

Peter shook his head right away. He didn’t want Morgan to get in trouble. Yes, she would be out of it soon, but still. She had been trying to help him. Just like he had always imagined his little sister would do if he had one. 

And he did have one now. Maybe Morgan wasn’t his sister by blood, but she was his sister. 

“Just leave me alone,” Peter said. Why couldn’t Cap just listen? He was definitely doing this for Tony, but he had no problem doing the exact opposite of what Tony wanted when it suited him. Now of course when Peter was doing this, he had to act this way. 

“Peter, I’m trying to help you. I know what it’s like to—” 

“No, you don’t.” Cap didn’t understand at all what it was like to go through the things that Peter had. Maybe the two of them had some things in common, such as their super powers and how they, especially Peter, wanted to help the little guy, but this wasn’t one of them. “And I can handle this. Thanks, Spangles, but no thank you.” 

And with that Peter took off running. It wasn’t going to work. He knew it wasn’t. Still he had to try. 

But Cap grabbed him. Peter yanked away and shoved him. But this wasn’t going to be like in Europe. He wasn’t going to fight Cap, even though now he had more experience. He wasn’t the fourteen-year-old kid new to his powers that he had been then.

Steve let go but didn’t move away. “Peter, I mean it. We need to go back to the game. You need to—” 

Peter didn’t let him finish and shot his legs with some webs and his hands after that. Steve could have dodged it normally. Easily have dodged it, but he must not have been expecting it or… or something else. 

“I’m sorry,” Peter said.

It wasn’t going to take Steve that long to break free of them. Then he would either come after him or he would send Tony after him. Maybe both. It wasn’t going to be good no matter what.

“I’m sorry,” Peter said again before Cap could demand that he release him or that he was going to regret it. Peter took off running, just knowing for now he had to get far away from both the stadiums and Cap. 

Then he could put his plan into action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this chapter. Please comment!!!


	17. A Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Labor Day to all who celebrate it!

Peter kept expecting that Steve would catch up to him. After all, he was a super soldier. Yes, it would take most people a couple hours to escape from the webs, but Steve… well, Peter wasn’t sure but it would be a lot less than that. 

But he didn’t come after him. That didn’t make him feel that much better because he was going to send Tony after him and that… it would complicate things, but he was just going to have to handle that when the time came. 

He caught an Uber to take him to Tukwila which was about twenty minutes away. The whole time he didn’t say anything to the Uber driver. His phone kept getting text after text. Some from Tony, some from Steve, some from May, a couple even from Bucky and Pepper, but he ignored all of them. He knew that he had to do this. He ignored all the calls that came from Tony and May. 

Eventually he turned his phone off and just remained quiet, hoping and praying that Tony or worse Tony as Iron Man wouldn’t show up and drag him away.  
|  
Peter had the Uber driver stop him about a mile from Eddie’s supposed house. He could walk or rather run over there since he didn’t know when Tony was going to show up to try and save the day. Not that Peter needed saving. 

“Good luck, kid,” the Uber driver said. 

That just made Peter feel worse since that was what Tony called him. Still he forced himself to nod and even smile. He wasn’t going to kill Eddie, but he wasn’t entirely sure what he was going to do. 

He had thought of going in as Spider-Man, but he wanted Eddie to know who was confronting him. If he went in as Spider-Man… well, there was no way that he was going to let Eddie know that he was a superhero. No way. 

The house looked different than Peter had imagined. Like something out of a 50’s sitcom. Perfect. It had a white picket fence and everything. So domestic and not what he thought Eddie would like. Okay… maybe that wasn’t completely true. Eddie had seemed to love May so much and at times Peter wondered if he would have liked to have that kind of life with her. 

Obviously he didn’t want to have May’s annoying nephew to deal with. 

Still seeing this… 

Peter frowned but then walked toward the house. Should he just knock or should he sneak in and surprise Eddie? He had spent so much time trying to find him that he should have had an exact plan, and he had thought of a lot but…

He didn’t get a chance to decide because then a young girl with her hair in pigtails skipped out of the house. Peter froze. Eddie had kids? That shouldn’t have been possible. May hadn’t known that. Maybe he had been married the whole time and had been lying even more to May than Peter thought. That shouldn’t… Maybe after what happened he shouldn’t have been surprised, but he was. He thought Eddie had been honest with May. 

Well, except when it came to how he was treating Peter. 

The girl looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “What are you doing here?” 

“I… Uh… I’m looking… I’m looking for someone,” Peter said, knowing that he sounded like an idiot. “Is your dad here?” 

“My dad?” the girl asked, twirling one of his braids around her finger. “My daddy left years ago. He... he never came back. He died.” 

Oh… Peter bit his lip. “I’m sorry. I know what that’s like. He had lost his dad, Ben, and then Tony. Yes, Tony was alive now, but Peter hadn’t known that for almost a year. Losing a parent… was beyond terrible. 

The girl nodded. “It’s okay.” 

“It’s… My parents are dead too,” Peter said. He worried that he was saying too much and the girl was going to wonder why he was saying this and even why he was here and get freaked out. 

Instead she nodded. “But I have my mommy and my uncle here. Do you want to talk to them?” 

Her uncle… That… Could that be Eddie? It had to be, right? Unless Eddie was the father and he wasn’t really dead. 

“I… Yeah, can I talk to your uncle,” Peter said, feeling a lump form in his throat. He was sure that if he hadn’t turned his phone off that it would be going crazy right now. He was positive that Tony was on his way to put an end to this one way or another. So he had to be fast. “Is his name Eddie… or Edmond.” That had been Eddie’s real name. Not Edward apparently like most people who had gone by that nickname. He had only found out because once he had seen his license. 

“I can get him,” the girl said, smiling brightly at him. “He’s really nice.” 

Okay, if he was really nice then there was no way that this could be Eddie. It was just… it was impossible because he was a jerk. Even when he hadn’t hurt Peter, he hadn’t been nice to him and was constantly glaring at him and making small snide comments that made him feel like he didn’t belong there. 

He should have told Aunt May that he didn’t like him. It would have ended the whole relationship, but he wanted her to be happy. And maybe… if he could deal with Eddie and make sure that he was put in jail then he wouldn’t be able to hurt a child. A child who actually couldn’t defend themselves and didn’t have enhanced healing like he did. 

If someone else had gotten hit by a baseball bat like Peter had then they would have died or at least been hurt a lot worse than he had been. 

“I… Yeah, sure I can talk to him,” Peter said, finding it hard to even get the words out. His voice didn’t sound like it belonged to him. 

The girl smiled at him and then ran back in the house. Peter just stood there, knowing that he didn’t belong, but not moving. Whenever he heard the engine of a car, he was worried that it would be Tony who would drag him away or worse make some kind of scene. 

Eddie didn’t realize how lucky he was that he hadn’t had to face Tony. Yes, he knew that he was Iron Man and Tony had told Eddie that Peter was like a son to him, but Eddie had probably never believed it. Probably thought that Peter was just an orphan who he felt sorry for. Or that… well that Peter and Tony really were doing sexual things. 

Peter gagged at the thought. 

He kept waiting near the door. Soon a few minutes had passed. Maybe the girl wasn’t going to come back after all. Maybe that was better. Perhaps this had been a mistake.

But then the front door opened and… well, it was Eddie. Peter’s heart sunk. His spider sense went off like it always did and he wasn’t going to ignore it this time. He didn’t think that he would ever ignore it again.

It had never let him down. 

“Peter…” Eddie said, shutting the door behind him. “You’re not supposed to be here.” His eyes were wide and he looked like he was afraid of him. Maybe he should be. 

“Really?” Peter asked, going closer to him. “That’s all you have to say to me. We need to talk. You… Did you do anything to hurt May?” That really was more important than anything else. He thought that she would have said something and ended the relationship but people had probably thought the same thing about him and he had waited. 

“I would never do something like that to May or any woman. I’m not that kind of person.” 

“Good because if you hurt May… I’d…” He almost said that he would have killed him. Part of him would have wanted to do that, but he… he couldn’t. Even now he didn’t want to think too much about that. 

But he also knew that Tony wouldn’t feel the same way. 

“I didn’t, and I never would have. You… The two of us need to talk,” Eddie said. “I need to explain why--”

“Do you think I’m stupid? Do you think I’m going to believe that was a mistake and it was a one time thing because it wasn’t?” Peter was yelling, but he didn’t care even though there was a lady across the street looking at him. She was dialing something in her phone. The police? Maybe. Peter wasn’t sure how much he cared right now. “I’m… I’m not going to let you do that to someone else.”

“Jesus… Peter, I’m sorry,” Eddie said. 

He was sorry? Did he think that was going to fix everything? Did he think that was enough? He could be as sorry as he wanted, but it didn’t mean that he should be out there. Peter… well, he didn’t forgive him, not when he was still dangerous and could hurt someone else. 

And he had manipulated him. Made him feel like he should be forgiving toward him since he had gone through a lot when he had been a kid. Supposedly. That could be a lie too. 

“I mean it,” Eddie said. “I… I really didn’t mean to hurt you.” 

“You think I’m going to believe something like that,” Peter said, glaring at him. “And I’m not here for you to apologize to me and tell me how you’re sorry. I--”

“Why are you here?” Eddie asked. “I left you alone after what happened.” 

“Because you were worried that Tony was going to kill you,” Peter said, and he didn’t even have to look at him to know that he had hit the mark when he said that. “And he probably wants to. He… Tony…” 

“I know you think that he loves you but--”

“Oh, he does love me. He’s my dad. Maybe not by blood, but he is. He’s amazing,” Peter said. “And you’re lucky that I’m the one who’s here and not him.” 

“Tony only cares about you because you’re--”

“We’re not doing anything sexual. You’re disgusting for thinking that and--”

Eddie didn’t let him finish. “Because you’re Spider-Man.”

What? There was no way that he should know that. Peter had been careful when he had been living with them. He had tried to make sure there was no way that he could possibly find out the truth. Because it was dangerous. He couldn’t trust someone like him who would have no problem telling his worst enemies his identity. 

If people found out that he was Spider-Man then they might go after May. Peter wasn’t always there to protect her even though he did his best. 

“No… I’m… I don’t know why you would think something like that,” Peter said in pretty much a whisper. There was no way that something like this was happening. This was worse than he had imagined. 

“I wasn’t sure, but seeing your face. It’s pretty obvious, Pete,” Eddie said, letting out a laugh, but it was obvious that he didn’t find any part of this funny. “It makes sense because Tony Stark wouldn’t just spend time with some random kid. And you… there was always something off about you. Something unnatural.” 

Peter took a step back. He was going to have to tell Tony. They would have to find a way to deal with this. No… no… he had to tell someone else because Tony would overreact. Someone who would be able to handle this without doing something violent.

“Listen, it’s okay,” Eddie said. “The two of us should talk. Somewhere my family isn’t.” 

“Yeah… yeah,” Peter said. “But I’m not Spider-Man. I’m not. I just know him.” There was no way that Eddie or anyone would believe him, but at least he was being quiet. The woman staring at them had hardly moved. 

Maybe the police would come. Maybe that was fine too. They could even arrest Peter. Tony would get him out. He just didn’t want May to hear what happened, or worse, for Eddie to say something about who he really was. 

“So you will talk then, kid?” Eddie said, obviously knowing that it would annoy him. “I mean, Peter.” 

“I’m not going to go anywhere alone with you,” Peter said, even though he could obviously take him. It was just that… well… it was smart to be cautious just in case and to listen to his spidey sense. “I’m not leaving with you.”

“I… Jesus, Peter, you’re fucking Spider…” He stopped and looked around. “Fine, I’ll ask my sister and her two daughters to leave and then we can talk in the backyard or something if you’re going to be this way.” 

“Maybe I’m worried about you,” Peter said. “You shouldn’t want to be alone with me.” And he didn’t exactly have a plan but…

Eddie laughed. “I’m more worried about dealing with your fake dad.” 

“Just… just ask your sister to leave and then we can talk.” Peter didn’t stop glaring at him. “And we’re going to…” He was probably going to turn him into the police after this. It was surprising that Tony hadn’t. He obviously hadn’t for a reason. 

“Fine,” Eddie said. “You just… Wait here?” When Peter nodded, Eddie sighed and then went into the house, leaving him alone. 

Peter didn’t say anything and pulled out his phone which he turned on. He had over a hundred text messages and 20 missed calls from multiple people, but mostly from Tony and May. He stared at his phone and then pulled up the messages from Tony which were… as expected. 

Tony was freaking out and telling him that he had to call him and that he shouldn’t go near Eddie. 

“Everything is fine,” Peter texted Tony fast. “Don’t worry. I got it under control.” 

Tony texted back right away, not that he had expected anything else. “Under control? I’m coming there!” 

This… even less surprising but not good. “Everything’s fine!!!!” Peter texted. “I’m not with Eddie. Just don’t try and find me!” 

Peter hoped he would listen. He… doubted it, but maybe he would have enough time. 

Eddie’s sister and her daughters came out. They looked at Peter, but none of them said anything, even the little girl who had a lot to say before. All she did was stare at him with a blank expression. They got in the car and left. 

“We’re not going to have that much time,” Eddie said and at first Peter thought he meant Tony, but he hadn’t… probably not anyway. 

Peter didn’t say anything but followed him into the backyard. The backyard was just as domestic as the front yard had been, with a swing set and a slide for the children. There was a little garden with bright red tomatoes growing. 

“You shouldn’t be here,” Eddie said, standing by a lawn chair, but he didn’t sit down and kept narrowing his eyes at Peter. “You can’t just come running here and… I was trying to start over.” 

“Start over?” Peter asked. “You can’t just start over and I thought you wanted to talk.”

“Listen… Peter… You might… Not everyone can be as perfect as you,” Eddie said, actually kicking one of the lawn chairs. “It was a mistake and I’m not going to do something like that. I regret it but you… Don’t act like you’re completely innocent.” 

“What?” Peter asked. He wished that he couldn’t believe this was happening, but he could. Eddie had blamed him for this kind of thing before. Why would now change? This… this had been a mistake maybe. No, he just had to be focused. “I’m not here to hear--”

“I wanted to get along with you, but you’re so weird and close with Stark and May’s ex-boyfriend.” 

That was one of the first times he had mentioned Happy, but it wasn’t surprising to Peter. Not really. 

“Everything was against me. May kept saying how important it was for me to get along with you, but you didn’t want that. No, you only cared about your fake dad, Tony Stark, and you didn’t like me. You just didn’t.” 

What? This was… “I tried to get along with you.” All he had wanted was for May to be happy. He had been fine. He had been normal, but Eddie had to be violent and crazy. Peter hadn’t done anything that bad. 

Eddie scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Listen, you and I are never going to get along, but we can work something out. You’re going to get your… “dad”… to not freak out. Don’t have him try and ruin my life. I know he has a lot of influence and I have a future. And I especially want you to make sure he doesn’t try and kill me.”

“Tony’s not going to kill you.” 

Eddie just gave him a look. 

“He’s not!” Peter said. “And you have no right to tell me what to do. Not after what you’ve done. You can’t me do anything.” And it wasn’t like he really could make Tony do anything either. And Eddie had to face the consequences. Peter wasn’t going to be manipulated. 

“You don’t think I can make you do this? I know you’re Spider-Man. Do you want the world to know that?” 

Peter’s stomach twisted painfully and the peanuts and cotton candy he had ate at the game were threatening to come back up.

“You… You wouldn’t do that to May.” But Peter didn’t think that. He had no idea the kind of thing that Eddie would do. 

“I don’t want to do it since then she could be in danger and she doesn’t deserve that. It’s not her fault that her nephew is some kind of mutant.” 

“I’m not a mutant,” Peter muttered not that it mattered that he technically wasn’t like the Deadpool and the X-Men in that way. At least he didn’t think he had that gene, even though most people probably would have died if they were bitten by that spider. Still he doubted it. The spider bite had just changed him. 

“Whatever you are. You’re not completely human. I don’t want her to have to suffer more, but I’m going to take care of myself.” 

Peter’s throat clogged up. He tried to tell him something, but he wasn’t sure if it was to go to hell or that he was going to tell the police or something else. Like that he would actually do what he wanted. 

Even though he couldn’t… right? Not when there were other kids out there who might get hurt. 

“Come on,” Eddie said. He reached out to touch Peter’s shoulder, but Peter pushed his hand away. “I didn’t do anything that bad.” 

Peter was about to argue, but he didn’t get the chance because that was when he heard someone else’s voice. A voice he recognized right away. 

Tony’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment!!!!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this is okay. I'm not sure what I think about it.

Peter sighed and pulled away from Eddie. Maybe Tony had saved him before but he didn’t need that today.

“Everything’s fine, Tony,” Peter said. He wished that he would have let him handle this. Peter was going to deal with it and then he would have called the police. He didn’t know why Tony hadn’t done that himself. 

There had to be a reason, but right now he didn’t care. Right now Peter just wanted Tony to let him handle this. 

But of course he didn’t listen and gently pushed Peter behind him, as if Peter was actually in danger and needed Tony to protect him. This was just a normal person. Someone who Peter could have dealt with. 

“It will be fine,” Tony said, now putting his arm in front of him before looking at Eddie. Peter was glad that Tony had never looked at him that way. There was no way that Eddie couldn’t find this scary. Tony looked murderous. 

Tony surely did want to kill him.

“I’ll be fine because I’m going to deal with this asshole,” Tony said. He kept giving Eddie that look. “You know you were lucky before, Eddie. Lucky that my wife convinced me not to do anything before.”

This was going to be really bad.

“Tony, I don’t want you to hurt him,” Peter said, pushing his arm away. “I have this under control.” 

He half expected for Tony to say something about how he obviously didn’t or how it was under control now but he didn’t. 

“Seriously, I do,” Peter said in a small voice. “I was just going to talk to him and then I was going to report him to the police.” Like Tony hadn’t for some reason. Probably because he was considering hurting Eddie. 

“I didn’t even do anything that bad. I was just trying to teach the kid discipline. He’s almost a man and he’s out of control.”

“You fucking watch your mouth.” Tony lunged toward Eddie and Peter had to grab his arm to keep him from doing something crazy. “And your idea of discipline is fucking insane. My father was like that. No, you’re fucking worse than my father. He never tried to kill me.”

His father had been like that? Peter hadn’t heard that before. 

“I never tried to kill Peter!”

“Never tried to kill Peter? You hit him with a baseball bat. You’re sick. I’m just grateful that I got there in time because it I hadn’t and you hadn’t left then…” Tony pulled away from Peter and he didn’t try to grab him again. This would probably be a mistake. 

Tony might not have his Iron Man suit on now but Peter was sure he would still find a way to kill Eddie if he really wanted. 

“That was an accident!”

“An accident? How do you hit someone on accident with a baseball bat? You can’t! Actually, you know what, why don’t you tell me what your crazy reasoning is for that? This ought to be something.”

How could something like that be an accident? It just wasn’t possible. And he had bruises besides just his head too. That whole day was a blur but he knew what others had told him.

“I was trying to get the door open.”

“Really? That’s your excuse for almost killing my kid?”

Almost killing? It hadn’t been that bad. Since he was Spider-Man. Mostly because of that. 

“It really was—“

“No, I’m not going to buy that shit. Not when you could have killed my kid,” Tony said. “I’ve been thinking about what I was going to do with you for awhile. I’ve been thinking about what is the right path to take. I mean I could do the right thing and have you get arrested but…” He shrugged. 

“Let’s just do that,” Peter said. It wasn’t easy for him to say, but he wasn’t going to let Tony do something stupid and kill Eddie. Tony was lots of things, but he was a good person. 

Maybe Peter should never have come here after all. 

“He could have killed you,” Tony said, his voice softening. “He could have killed you and if something like that had happened…” He shook his head. “I can’t let something like that happen to you, not again…”

Not again. It hadn’t been Tony’s fault what happened with Thanos. None of this had been his fault. 

“We should just call the police,” Peter said. “Coming here…” it hadn’t been a mistake. He had confronted him but it hadn’t gone how he imagined but at least if he got arrested he couldn’t hurt anyone else, right? 

It was just, what if nothing could be proved? What if he did get to go free? 

“I really was just trying to get the door open,” Eddie said in a small voice. He looked into Peter’s eyes. “You believe me, don’t you, Pete?” 

The thing was there was no way that he believed that. There was no way that he actually thought it had been some kind of accident. No. Maybe Eddie hadn’t planned it, but he had done it. He had hurt him after even. 

“You’re not going to hurt anyone again. Not my aunt or anyone.” If he didn’t do something, then Eddie would date someone else and their kid might get hurt. Yeah, this was going to end, even though he knew that he was Spider-Man. “You’re going to--”

“If you say go to jail, then you should stop. I’ll tell everyone you’re Spider-Man. Your whole life will be ruined, Peter. How will you like that?”

That… That was the last thing Peter wanted. He liked being able to have a normal life. If people found out that he was Spider-Man then everything would change. He wouldn’t be able to be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man anymore. He’d probably go outside and people would always want to ask him questions and take his picture. He knew that would just be because they liked superheroes but still.

He wasn’t ready for something like that.

And it could get a lot worse. He hadn’t signed up the Accords. He wasn’t eighteen yet. No one had been talking about the Accords the last year, but something could change and then what? 

Tony cringed when he heard that and his eyes widened. “You… You know.” 

“Obviously I was going to find out. He was gone a lot and I could go in his room and look around. I might not have ever seen any of his suits, but I still saw proof of what he was. It makes sense in a way. More sense than him being your son.”

“Fuck you,” Tony said. “You say a thing about Peter being Spider-Man then I’ll find a way to make you wish you were dead.” He smirked and rolled his eyes. He then looked at Peter and put his hand on his shoulder. “Unless you just want me to get rid of this problem. I know that you’re not going to want it. That you don’t believe in killing, but he deserves it.” 

“I deserve it?” Eddie asked. “How do I deserve it? I already said that it was an accident.” 

“Don’t you ever say that again and you better not threaten my son again,” Tony said. “And I mean it if you say anything then… well, you won’t be happy, capiche? Don’t bother answering that. I don’t want to hear your voice.” 

All Eddie seemed to be able to do was stare at him. 

“So Peter, what do you want me to do?” Tony asked. “What do you think’s the right thing?” 

There was a lump in Peter’s throat. He knew that if he did tell Tony to kill Eddie that he would do it, but he would never allow that. Eddie was a horrible person, but Tony wasn’t and he wouldn’t let stoop to Eddie’s level. 

Especially when Peter would be fine. 

“No. I don’t want you to do anything,” Peter said softly. “He’s… He can go to jail. I doubt he’ll be popular there.” 

“Oh, he won’t be,” Tony said with a laugh.

“Then I’m going to make sure that the brat’s life is ruined,” Eddie said. “I’ll tell people who he is. I’ll make sure the media and--”

It happened so fast that Peter couldn’t even do anything. Tony punched Eddie in the face. Hard. Eddie stumbled backward and grabbed his nose, which was bleeding. It was probably broken. But Tony wasn’t done. He punched him again and again. 

Peter didn’t do anything at first, but then he grabbed Tony and pulled him away. If he kept doing this… he might kill Eddie after all. 

“Stop,” Peter said. 

“He deserves much worse,” Tony said. “And Eddie, if you do anything to hurt my kid, then you’ll find out what can happen. I’m the richest man in the world and, well, I’m Iron Man.” 

Eddie just let out a groan and fell to his knees, still clutching his face which… well, it was a mess. There was so much blood. 

“You… he…” Eddie spat out some blood. 

“What?” Tony asked. “Is that a threat? Are you trying to threaten Peter again? Because I’ve been nice so far, and you don’t want to find out what I’ll do when I’m not being nice. I’ll do anything for my family, especially my kids.” 

Eddie just shook his head. 

Tony opened his mouth to say something else, but he didn’t get a chance to finish because then a police siren sounded. The neighbor must have called the police after all. What was going to happen? Tony had really hurt Eddie.

“I know what you’re thinking, kid, and I’ll be fine. If I get in trouble for anything, then it should be that I didn’t tell the police I knew where he was right away, but…” Tony sighed and put his hand on the back of his neck. But Tony probably hadn’t been sure what he was going to do. “I’m Iron Man and no one is going to do anything to me, you know, since I’ve saved the world and everything. Besides, Pepper wouldn’t allow it and she’s way scarier than someone like Eddie.” 

“Pepper might not be happy about this,” Peter muttered. 

“Nah, she’ll understand,” Tony said. “I’m just protecting you, and I know you could do it yourself, but I can’t help it.” 

The police came into the backyard soon after that. They had all sorts of questions, but Tony turned out to be right. They really didn’t want to do anything to Tony. They did ask questions and they said that they would eventually need to question them more, but really they seemed more than willing to believe them. They hardly even looked at Peter. 

And after they had put Eddie in the cop car, some of them actually thanked Tony and talked about their family members who had been snapped and how now they were back. 

Eventually Tony and Peter did leave. Apparently, Tony had brought the fancy car that he had rented, and he must have broken the speed limit to get to him as fast as he did. 

“Sorry,” Peter said as he got into the car. “I know you didn’t want me to confront him. I just knew that I could handle him.” 

“Kid, I know you can handle Eddie. You have super strength. It’s just you’re such a good kid and I didn’t want you to have to go through that. You’ve already gone through way more than you were supposed to and I was… I was just trying to make things easier for you.” 

Peter sighed and leaned back in his chair. Tony hadn’t even started the car yet. “He knows who I am.” 

“And if he says a word about you being Spider-Man then I meant my threat. He’s going to regret it. You deserve to have as close as a normal life as you want. It’s bad enough how Fury treated you when you were in Europe. That asshole.” 

Peter shrugged. Yeah, Fury had been a jerk, but he had his reasons for acting that way. Or at least he had his reasons for trying to get him to help out even when Peter said he just wanted to go on his class trip. 

“I’m not going to let Eddie make things even worse for you,” Tony said. “I’m Iron Man and Tony Stark. You can trust me when it comes to this.” 

Peter paused but then he nodded. He just hoped Tony would be able to keep Eddie from saying anything, but Eddie wasn’t as brave as he acted. He was just… stupid and reckless and violent. 

Tony finally turned on the car and then he sighed. “Kid, there is something I’ve been wanting to tell you. Something I need to tell you.” 

“What?” Peter asked. His stomach sunk. He didn’t like how Tony was saying this. 

“It’s… I mean I would say it’s not bad, but it is. It was, and it’s hard to talk about but…” He sighed and turned off the car. “Kid, I know what it’s like to go through what you did.” 

“What?” Peter asked, his voice breaking. Yes, he had mentioned how his father had been cruel, but it was hard to think that Tony could have gone through something like he had. Not when Tony always seemed so confident and strong.

“Maybe not the exact same thing. My father, he never hit me with a bat but… well, he was cruel… Nothing I did was enough for him. I could win contests, get amazing grades, make all sorts of inventions, and he would find something wrong with something I did. He’d…” Tony looked away. “I used to tell myself I should just be glad that he wasn’t hurting my mother but--”

“But you were a kid,” Peter whispered. 

“Yes, and you are too,” Tony said.

“But I have--”

“It doesn’t matter if you have super powers. It’s still not right,” Tony said. 

“I… I know,” Peter said. “And I’m sorry something like that happened to you. I… I never thought…” He never would have believed something like that could have happened to Tony who was so strong. One of the best people who Peter knew.

“It can happen to anyone,” Tony said. “And I’m… I’m okay now and you’re going to be okay now too, but if you’re ever not… well, don’t worry. I’ll be there for you.” 

Peter forced himself to smile. What he had gone through was horrible and hard, but he knew that Tony was right. He would be there for him.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure what I think of this chapter. I might actually do an epilogue if most people want it. Sorry it took so long to post this. I've been sick and busy with work and getting ready for Pitch Wars. I'm entering one of my original novels in Pitch Wars. I still feel really bad about how long this took!

“I have a surprise for you,” Tony said. It had been two months after Peter had confronted Eddie, and the trial was going to happen in a few weeks. It seemed like it had been forever and too short at the same time. 

But Peter had been fine. Things had been… good. Yes, he worried about what would happen, and he obviously didn’t look forward to testifying, but things would work out. At least Peter hoped it was. Sometimes he wasn’t sure. At times, he tossed and turned during the night thinking about what could go wrong.

“A surprise?” Peter asked as he looked up from watching Frozen with Morgan.

Morgan grinned and grabbed his hand. He had been babysitting her before Tony had showed back up. “Yes, Daddy has the best present for you.” 

Morgan was now going to private school in the city, so Peter got to see her, Tony, and Pepper a lot more. It was amazing. He loved the days when he got to go with Happy to pick her up. She would tell everyone that she was his sister and he could never help but grin.

“Why would you get me a present?” Peter asked. Christmas was coming up and he was sure Tony would go crazy when it came to gifts for that since that was how he was, but it wasn’t here yet. “There’s not any special reason to.” 

“Daddy missed your birthday because he was sleeping then,” Morgan said, doing her best to yank Peter up. “He got you an extra special present.” 

“Don’t ruin the surprise, Mongoose,” Tony said, but he was also smiling. “I’ve had it ready for awhile, but I was waiting.” 

“Waiting for what? And you don’t have to get me anything,” Peter said. 

“He was waiting for--”

“Shh, we want him to be surprised, Morgan,” Tony said, still grinning at her. If anything his grin got even wider. 

Morgan giggled and looked up at Peter. This… he hoped that Tony was only giving him something small, but he had a feeling that wasn’t the case. 

“Close your eyes,” Morgan said, now jumping up and down. “That way you won’t know where the present is.” 

“I… I don’t need to do that,” Peter said. Yes, it was going to be something expensive if it couldn’t be brought here. “You really don’t--”

“Don’t say that I don’t need to get you anything,” Tony said. “You might not be related to me by blood, Peter, but you know you’re like a son to me. And I want to get you this. You need to stop worrying about it.” 

Peter just shrugged. 

“And this isn’t just a late birthday gift, it’s also one for you getting into MIT and just because I’m proud of you.”

Peter couldn’t help but smile when he said that. Despite that Tony and everyone had told him that he was sure to get into the college, he hadn’t really believed it. It was a hard school to get into. 

Yet he had managed to. 

“You’re taking after me. Going to MIT and everything. Not to mention that you’re a superhero like me as well.” 

“I’m not… I don’t think I’m that much like you,” Peter said. 

Tony just gave a shrug. “Maybe not exactly like me, but you are in the good ways. And I’m proud of you, kid. I have been for a long time. You’ve always been… well, you’re a good person. A good and caring person.” 

He had probably planned to say that he was the best of them, but he had stopped, which Peter appreciated. That was still too much responsibility. Or rather not responsibility, but just something he didn’t think he would ever be able to meet. 

Tony was amazing. He had been prepared to sacrifice himself for everyone multiple times. 

“And I want to give you a present. You got your license too which is good.” 

That had taken a couple tests. Peter just wasn’t a great driver even though he had May, Tony, and even Happy work with him. Happy only a couple times since he had gotten stressed and well… it hadn’t gone that well.

But he had gotten it.

“I’m not sure I’m going to do much with my license anytime soon,” Peter said. It wasn’t like he had a car or anything. And then it hit him. He looked at Tony. “You didn’t get me a car, right?” 

Tony had been mentioning cars a lot recently and saying how he thought it would be good if Peter had one, because then he would be able to drive to the lake house when they went there, and would even be able to pick up Morgan when Happy was busy. He just hadn’t thought much into it. 

Now he had a feeling that he should have.

“You… you didn’t get me a car, right?” Peter asked, having a feeling that was exactly what Tony had gotten him. 

Especially when Morgan’s eyes widened and she giggled. 

“Peter, you’re ruining the fun,” Tony said. “And I didn’t just get you a car.” 

“Tony, that’s too--”

“It’s not too much. You helped me deal with Capsicle when he had lost his mind. Hell, you had to deal with Beck and the Vulture because of me and obviously the most important thing being you’re like a son to me. This is the least I could do.” 

Peter couldn’t say anything at first. He tried to get a word out but it almost sounded like he was choking. Taking something like this… yes, he knew that Tony liked to give it to him but it still made him feel bad at times. 

Especially since Tony kept saying over and over again how he was going to pay for Peter’s MIT if the scholarships didn’t work out. 

“It really isn’t that much for me,” Tony said. “I have more money than I know what to do with. Your Spider-Man suits cost a lot more than the car did, kiddo.” 

Yeah, but that was different. He used those because he was an Avenger. He used those to help people. He didn’t like when he just took things from people.

“It will help you with Avenger situations,” Tony said as if he knew what he was thinking. “This way Happy won’t always have to drive you to the new Compound since it’s done, especially since you’re going to be in Massachusetts. You’re going to need a car. If only for work.” 

“So I’m only going to use it for work?” Peter asked as Tony threw his arm over his shoulder. 

“Kid, you can use it for Avenger related things and anything when it comes to college.” 

“Tony, I’m not even that good of a driver,” Peter said. He was going to feel worse when he crashed the car that Tony had given him. Maybe Tony wouldn’t care that much, but Peter would. 

“Let’s go see it,” Tony said. 

“Car time!” Morgan said, trying to get Peter to give her a piggyback ride at the same time which he did. She was light and easy to carry. Though she wanted him to give her piggyback rides pretty much anywhere.

“But Tony, I’ll probably--”

“Crash it?” Tony asked as he dragged the two of them to an elevator. “You already crashed one of the cars once.” He was smiling when he said it as if it was a joke. Tony really hadn’t seemed to care about that, apparently the cop who had found out about the crash never had said anything either. “It’s fine if you do. It’s normal for teenagers to crash cars.” 

“Really, Tony?” Peter asked as they got into the elevator and Morgan jumped off Peter’s back just to press the buttons and then jumped back. “I could have--”

“I know you wouldn’t hurt anyone. You’re careful and a better driver now. You just had to learn.” Tony frowned for a moment. “So I know when you’re in college, you’re probably going to want to drink and party, but make sure you don’t drive when you do that. I know it’s harder for you get drunk but--”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Peter said. “I’m not even going to party.” 

“Yeah, that’s what they all say,” Tony said. “But it’s okay if you do just as long as you are careful and if anything ever happens you can--”

“Call you or May, but I’m not going to have to because I’ll be in college and I really will be careful. And I obviously won’t drive.” 

Peter had seen what could happen when you drove when you were drunk. He wasn’t going to do something like that. 

“Good because I can’t lose the Spiderling again,” Tony said, his voice sounding higher for a moment than it usually did. Most people wouldn’t have noticed but Peter did since he had known him for so long. 

“I’d miss you,” Morgan said.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Peter said, smiling weakly as he did.

“Good because I wouldn’t allow it,” Tony said as they went down the elevator. 

“You still didn’t need to get me—“ 

“Nope. No more saying I didn’t need to get you a car. This is my present to you.” 

“The other Avengers are going to get jealous.”

“Don’t care. You’re my favorite. Besides, I give those free loaders all sorts of things.” 

Peter wasn’t even sure what to say, but he was pretty sure Tony had never given any of them a car. He followed Tony into the garage and there right in front of the door was the car he had driven with him a few months ago and crashed. It looked brand new and had a huge red bow on it. No damage remained. 

“Figured you should have this one. It can remind you to be careful.” 

“Thank you. Thank you so much but you--”

“Nope, you’re taking it,” Tony said. “No more arguing.” 

Peter smiled and hugged him. It was odd to think that before, he wouldn’t have been able to hug Tony. The first time he tried, Tony had said he was just reaching for the door. “Thanks, Tony. Thanks a lot.” 

“No problem, kiddo. I’m proud of you, especially with all you have gone through recently.” 

Peter paused but then nodded. In a few days, it would be the court day. He didn’t want to think about it, especially since he had a feeling something bad was going to happen. Eddie could mention how he was Spider-Man. He probably would.

And then Peter’s life would be over. 

“He’s going to go to jail,” Tony said, obviously knowing that he was thinking about that. “He’s going to go to jail and you’re not going to have to see him again.” 

“I’m not afraid of him,” Peter said and he wasn’t. He had faced a lot worse than him and yet he wanted Eddie locked up for as long as possible. 

He was more worried about May. She still seemed to feel bad about what happened. Whenever Eddie got mentioned, she would apologize to Peter, even though it wasn’t her fault. She seemed like she was getting close with Happy again, but when Peter had asked about that, she had said something about how she shouldn’t be dating so soon after what happened with Eddie. That it wasn’t fair to Peter.

He would of course tell her that she should be doing what made her happy. Besides, he liked Happy. 

“You just want to make sure everyone else is okay.” Tony patted his shoulder. “Because you’re a good person. A great person.” 

“I… I’m just trying to do what’s right,” Peter said as he looked at the car. He really didn’t need something like this, but he also knew that Tony wouldn’t change his mind. 

“I know.” Tony nodded. “And well, if that…” He looked at Morgan before continuing, probably because he had planned to say some kind of swear word but had to stop himself now. “If he does say anything at court or any other time about your identity we’ll—”

“He’s going to do that.” It was obvious. Peter had heard May, Tony, Happy, and some of the others talking when they thought they couldn’t hear him. They forgot about his super hearing. Apparently, Eddie had… a few visitors and some of those visitors used to work for Stark Industry. 

Which really meant they probably had worked with Beck. Beck… Even now that he was dead. Peter had a bad feeling everything with him would come back to haunt him. 

“We’ll deal with it then. We’ll find a way to handle it.” 

“I’m not like you,” Peter said. “I’m not…” 

“You’re never going to have a normal life, Peter, not after the whole Spider incident.” Tony shrugged. “But I promise if Eddie or anyone says anything, we’ll find a way to deal with it. Not just me, but all the Avengers. May too, and she’s probably the scariest. Plus, they would have to deal with you.” 

“I’d take on them too!” Morgan said, hugging Peter tightly. 

Peter paused but then he nodded. He did have May, Tony, all the other Avengers, and of course Morgan and the rest of the Iron Family. Things would work out. One way or another. No one not Eddie, Beck, or anyone could take that from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed the story. I might do an epilogue if enough people want it so please comment. Also I'm sorry this took so long to post. If you have any short story requests also feel free to post them. I'm hoping to eventually do that kidnapping fiction I have in mind too. Hopefully that will happen soon but I might wait a few weeks. Thank you all so much again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Also please comment. Comments give me life!


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